^  APR  7  1391  ^ 
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RX  9211  .N6  F57  1891 
First  Presbyterian  Church 

(Newark,  N. J. ) 
centennial  celebration  of 
the  dedication  of  the  Firs 


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CENTENNIAL  CELEBRATION 


DEDICATION 


First  Presbyterian  Church 


'■     NEW^ARIv,    N.   J. 


JANUARY  FOURTH  AND  FIFTH 
189I 


l79l~uS9i 


ALEXANDER    Mc  WMO(?TER.  U,D,        1759-1807. 
EOVVARO    D  GRIFFIN.  DO  I80I-I809. 

JAMES    PICHAROS. DO,  1809-1323 

WILLIAM  T  HAMILTON.  D.D.  1824  -133* 

ANSEL  0  EDDY.  D  O.  ia35- '843 

JONATHAN    F  STEARNS.  DD.       1849-1833, 
DAVIO  R  PRAZER.O  O.         1803. 


P£V.  DAV/O  R.rj?AZEP.  O.P. 


CENTENNIAL  CELEBRATION. 


At  a  nieetiii;4"  of  the  Joint  Boards  held  November 
30th,  1890,  it  was  resolved  to  observe  the  centennial  of 
the  dedication  of  our  church  buildinj;^,  and  the  follovvinij 
named  gentlemen  were  appointed  : 

The  Expxutive   Committef. 
Rev.  1).  R.  Frazer,  D.D.,  Pastor 
Mr.  F.  W.  Baldwin,  Clerk  of  Session 
Mr.  A.  V.  Whitehead,  President  of  Board  of  Deacons 
Ml-.  W.  S.  Nichols,  President  of  Board  of  Trustees 


The  Executive  Committee  held  a  meeting  on  Dec- 
ember 1st,  at  the  house  of  Mr.  A.  P.  Whitehead  and 
resolved  that  the  Centennial  Exercises  should  be  held  on 
January  4th  and  5th,  1891,  and  should  consist  of: 

(i)  A  sermon,  presenting  the  history  of  the  building 
of  the  church,  by  the  Pastor. 

(2)  An  address  on  "  Centennial  Times  and  Men,"  by 
Mr.  Walter  S.  Nichols,  President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

(3)  A  social  gathering  on  Monday  evening,  Jan.  5th, 
under  the  direction  of  the  ladies  of  the  church. 

The  following  committees  were  appointed  : 

On  Invitation 

Mr.  Jeremiah  D.  I'oinier  Mr.  John  E.  Currier 

"     Wm.  A.  Righter  "    John  B.  Lunger 

"     Wilmer  A.  Baldwin  "    O.  H.  Wlieeler 

"    James  C.  McDonald  "    Jno.  L.  Rohlj 

"     FranU  C.  Watts  ■•     George  Beattie 


lloii.  (Jeorge  A.  Halsey 
"     Alex.  H.  Johnson 

Mr.  Robt.  H.  McCarter 
"    John  Remer 
"    Chas.  K.  Nichols 
"     A.  M.  Woodruff 
"    Wm.  C.  Mason 
"     Geo.  H.  Davis 
"     Wm.  T.  Carter 
"     H.  A.  Cozzens 
"     E.  P.   Hainski 
"     Geo.  P.  Hoerner 
"     A.  V.  Hamburg 
"     H.  G.  Lefort 
"    S.  J.  Storch 
"    Jno.  Huebel 

Mrs.  M.  R.  Dennis 
"     S.  H.  Pennington 


On    Rklei'I'ion 

Mrs.  ).  D.  roinier 
"      M.  E.  Kilburn 
"     F.  H.  Smitli 
"     Mary  Dusenberry 
"     S.  G.  Crowell 
"     II.  G.  Canfield 

Miss  J.  H.  Nichols 
"     Cornelia  Halsey 

Mrs.  C.  D.  Beach 
"     Wm.  Riker 

Miss  Mary  Camp 
"  Matilda  Coe 
"  F.  L.  Smith 
"     M.  B.  Mcllvaine 

Mrs.  C.  S.  Macknet 

Miss  E.   Nichols 
"     Anna  E.  Cougar 

Mrs.  B.  Stites 
Mrs.  C.  R.  Waugh 


Si'KciAi,  Reception  Committee 
Rev.  and  Mrs.  D.  R.  Frazer  Mrs.  Nelson  Todd 

Mr.  A.  S.  Hubbell  "     A.  S.  Day 

S.  H.  Pennington,  M.D.  "     John  Miller 


Mr.  E.  B.  WilHamson 

"  Geo.  T.  Baldwin 

"  Jas.  P.  Dusenberry 

"  Wesley  C.  Miller 

"  John  Foinier 

"  Bruen  II.  Camp 

"  Charles  S.  Colton 

"  Chandler  Riker 


Mrs.  Wesley  C.  Miller 

"  W.  S.  Baker 

"  A.  J.  Hedges 

"  Phineas  Jones 

"  M.  P.  Butler 

"  T.  W.  Loweree 

"  Wilmer  A.  Baldwin 

"  John  Poinier 


On  Decoration 

Mr.  James  II.  Fletcher 
"     Geo.  J.  Hagar 
'•     Wm.  A.  Wendover 
"     Wm.  L.  Smith 
"    Wm.  G.  Hainski 
"    Jno.  N.  Newman 
"     Chester  R.  Hoag 
"     Wm.  S.  Gregory 

On   Entertainment 

Mrs.  J.  E.  Currier 
''     F.  C.  Walts 
"     Wm.  T.  Carter 
"      E.  B.  Williamson 
"     Wm.  A.  Wendover 
"     W.  S.  Nichols 
"     Wm.  C.  Mason 
"     J.  N.  Newman 


7 


The  matter  of  music  was  referred  to  the  Music  Com- 
mittee of  the  Session,  Mr.  John  Seal)',  Mr.  WilHam  S. 
Hartshorne  and  Mr.  William  T.  Carter,  who  secured  a 
large  and  efficient  chorus  to  assist  our  cjuartette  in  singing 
the  songs  of  the  olden  time. 


The  c[uartette  consisted  of: 


Miss  Lucy  F.  Nelson,  Sflprano 

Mr. 

II.  M.  Mason,  Tenor 

Mrs.  Will.  S.  Canon,  Alto 

Mr. 

Richard  Stringer,  Bass 

Miss  (/onradt 

presiding  at  the  organ 

Assisted  by  : 

Sopranos 

Tenors 

Miss  Anna  E.  Baldvvni 

Mr. 

.  Frank  Ilodson 

"     Jessie  M.  Folkes 

" 

John  Poinier 

"     Augusta  H.  Gleini 

" 

II.  J.   Rudd 

Mrs.  Stewart  Roper 

" 

Henry  Westwood 

"     Cordelia  .Sliackellon 

Miss  Emma  Ward 

"     Lulu  Westwood 

Basses 

Alios 

Mr. 

Edmont  P.  Hainski 

Miss  Hulda  Clark 

" 

Alexander  P.  Holbrook 

Mrs.  Wm.  Diefenthaeler 

" 

Chas.  H.  Russ 

Miss  Jenny  Foxcroft 

" 

John  Sealy 

"     Sarah  Smith 

Thomas  Shavy 

The  following  invitation,  handsomely  engraved  on 
stiff  card  board  was  sent  to  every  member  of  the  church 
and  congregation,  also  to  the  members  of  the  Newark 
Presbytery  and  to  the  pastors  of  the  churches  in  the  city  : 


Organized  1667. 


1791. 


iSgi. 


You  are  respectfully  invited  to  attend  the  Centennial  Celeinalion  of  the 
Dedication  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Newark,  N.  J.  on  January 
4th  and  5th,  1 89 1.  Centennial  Sermon  by  the  Pastor  on  Sabbath  Morning 
at  10.30.  A  Paper  by  Mr.  Walter  S.  Nichols,  President  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees,  on  .Sabbath  Evening  at  7.30.  Reception  on  Monday  Evening  from 
7.30  to  10. 


8 


The  decoration  of  the  church  consisted  of  the  por- 
traits of  the  old  members,  arranged  in  groups  around  the 
galleries.  The  spaces  intervening  between  the  groups 
were  filled  with  plants  in  pots. 

The  endeavor  of  the  committee  was,  as  far  as  possi- 
ble, to  arrange  the  pictures  in  a  chronological  order, 
starting  with  the  east  end  of  the  north  gallery  : 

Group  I 

Mrs.  Nathaniel  and  Natlianiel  Camp 
Governor  Ticlieiior 

Group  2 

Mrs.  Jabez  Pierson,  Samuel  and  Mrs.  Samuel   Pennington  and 

Mrs.  Mary  Stiles  Baldwin 

Mrs.  Benton  M.  Harris 

Group  J 

Levi  Holden,  Mrs.  Hannah  Plympton  Holden  and 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Johnson  Poinier 

Benton  M.  Harris 

Group  4 

Mrs.  James  and  James  Tichenor,  Isaac  Nichols 

Mr.  Whittemore 

Group  J" 

Aaron  Nichols,  Mrs  Aaron  Nichols,  Chief  Justice  Hornblower  and 

Gov.  W.  S.  Pennington 

Mrs.  Whittemore 

Group  6 
Gov.  William  Pennington,  Mrs.  Tryphenia  B.  Ross 

South  gallery,  starting  with  the  east  end  : 

Group  7 

Sayres  and  Mrs.  Sayres  Coe 

Mrs.  Hannah  B.  Kinney 

Group  S 

Moses  and  Mrs.  M.  Roberts,  Henry   L.  Parkhurst 

John  P.  Davis 


Group  g 

Wm.  ami  Mrs.  Wallace,  Samuel  V.  Brown 
Mrs.  J.  Woodhull 

Group  lo 

Demas  Colton,  Mrs.  Henjamiii  Cleveland,  Caleb  Carter  and  Denjaniin  Olds 

Mrs.  C.  A.  Vanderhoof 

Group  II 

Mrs.  II.  C.  and  II.  C.  Jones,  Clias.  T.  Pierson 

James  Wheeler 

Group  12 
William  Rankin 

West  gallery  : 

From  south  eud  to  centre 

Wm.  B.  Kinney,  Wm.  Sliugard,  Luther  Goble,  I.,  Ceo.  H.  Peters 

Mrs.  John  Caldwell 

Centre 
F.  P.  Ilsley, 
Dr.  L.  A.  Smith,  .Alex.  Nichols  and   Mrs.  L.  A.  Smith 
Jotham  M.  Hager 

From  centre  to  ttortk  end 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Morton,  Mrs.  and  Luther  Gohle 

Mrs.  James  Vanderpool 

The  pulpit  was  banked  with  potted  plants.  Over 
it  hung  a  life  size  crayon  of  Dr.  MacWhorter  ;  his  study 
chair  was  on  the  platform;  the  figures  1791  and  1891 
appeared  in  gas  jets  ;  the  original  "  agreement  "  and  plan 
of  the  church,  both  on  parchment,  were  suspended  from  the 
gas  standards. 

On  the  north  side  were  hung  pictures  of  Dr.  (iriffin, 
Judge  Boudinot,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mulford,  while  on  the 
south  side  were  pictures  of  Dr.  Stearns,  Dr.  Eddy  and 
Mr.  William  Tuttle. 

The  following  was  the  programme  of  the  Sunday 
services  ;  at  the  close  of  which,  both  morning  and  even- 
ing, the  bell  was  struck  one  hundred  times  : 


lO 


Order  of  Morninc;  Service 


Organ  Voluntary  and  Anthem 


I.  Hymn 

Before  Jehovah's  awful  throne, 

Ye  nations,  bow  with  sacred  joy  ; 
Know  that  the  Lord  is  God  alone  ; 

He  can  create,  and  he  destroy. 

His  sovereign  power,  without  our  aid. 

Made  us  of  clay,  and  formed  us  men 
And  when,  lil<e  wandering  sheep,  we  strayed,     And  earth,  with  all  her  thousand  tongues, 

He  brought  us  to  His  fold  again.  Shall  fill  thy  courts  with  sounding  praise. 

Wide  as  the  world  is  thy  command  ; 

Vast  as  eternity  thy  love  ; 
Firm  as  a  rock  thy  truth  shall  stand, 

When  rolling  years  shall  cease  to  move. 

II.  Invocation 


I)enmark 

We  are  his  people,  we  his  care — 

Our  souls,  and  all  our  mortal  frame  : 
What  lasting  honors  shall  we  rear. 
Almighty  Maker,  to  thy  name  ? 

We  '11  crowd  thy  gates  with  thankful  songs; 
High,  as  the  heaven,  our  voices  raise  ; 


lir.     Hymn 

Blow  ye  the  trumpet,  blow  ; 

The  gladly  solemn  sound. 
Let  all  the  nations  know. 

To  earth's  remotest  bound  . 
The  year  of  jubilee  is  come  ; 

Return,  ye  ransomed  sinners,  home. 


Lenox 

Extol  the  Lamb  of  God 

The  sin  atoning  Lamb, 
Redemption  by  his  blood 

Throughout  the  world  proclaim. 
The  year  of  jubilee  is  come  ; 

Return,  ye  ransomed  sinners,  home. 


The  gospel  trumpet  hear, 

The  news  of  heavenly  grace  ; 

And,  saved  from  earth,  appear 
Before  your  Saviour's  face  : 

The  year  of  jubilee  is  come  ; 

Return,  ye  ransomed  sinners,  home. 


IV.      PSAI.M  cxxii. 


V.     Hymn 

The  Lord  of  glory  is  my  light, 

And  my  salvation,  too  ; 
God  is  my  strength, — nor  will  1  fear 

What  all  my  foes  can  do. 

One  privilege  my  heart  desires, 

Oh  !  grant  me  an  abode 
Among  the  churches  of  thy  saints, 

The  temples  of  my  God. 


^'ictOl■y 

There  shall  1  offer  my  requests. 

And  see  thy  beauty  still ; 
Shall  hear  thy  messages  of  love, 

And  there  inquire  thy  will. 

Now  shall  my  head  be  lifted  high 
Above  my  foes  around  ; 

And  scngs  of  joy  and  victory 
Within  thy  temple  sound. 


VI.     Commandments  and  Resi^onses 


1 1 


VII.  SCRII'TURE  Le.^son,  II.  Chron.  v.  :  i  ;  vi.  :  i,  2,  12-21,40-42  ;  vii.  :  1-3 

VIII.  Anthem — (Quartette 

"Oil  pray  for  the  peace  of  Jerusalem." — y.  C.  K>iax 
I.\.       I'RAVEK 


X.     Hymn 

Early,  my  God,  without  delay, 

I  haste  to  seek  thy  face  ; 
My  thirsty  spirit  faints  away, 

Without  thy  cheering  grace. 

So  Pilgrims  on  the  scorching  sand 

Beneath  a  burning  sky. 
Long  for  a  cooling  stream  at  hand  ; 

And  they  must  drink  or  die. 


Montgomery 

I  've  seen  thy  glory  and  thy  power 
Through  all  thy  temple  shine  : 

My  God,  repeat  that  heavenly  hour 
That  vision  so  divine. 

Thus,  till  my  last  expiring  day, 
I  '11  bless  my  God  and  King ; 

Thus  will  I  lift  my  hands  to  pray. 
And  tune  my  lips  to  sing. 


XI.     Centennial  Sermon 


XII.     Hymn 


Centennial   Hymn 

Wonis  and  music  composed /or  the  occasion 


Within  thy  walls,  oh  sacred  shrine, 
Gift  of  the  Past  to  Present  time. 
We  come,  with  reverential  tread. 
As  in  the  presence  of  the  dead, 
To  hear  that  sweet  and  tender  tone 
Which,  bursting  now  from  every  stone, 
Speaks  forth,  with  fresh  and  ardent  glow. 
Work  wrought — one  hundred  years  ago. 


Oh  Holy  House — Time  honored  now, 
A  ceniury  has  marked  thy  brow. 
Yet  classic  Fane— though  wondrous  fair. 
Cannot,  in  grace,  with  thee  compare. 
The  Fathers'  knell  was  long  since  rung, 
Their  solemn  dirge  was  long  since  sung, 
Vet,  while  they  sleep  beneath  the  sod, 
We  worship  where  they  built  for  God. 


To  thee,  O  Lord,  we  joyful  raise 

Our  glad  Centennial  song  of  praise 

As  now,  within  this  holy  place 

Thy  tenderness  and  love  we  trace. 

Help  us  to  guard,  with  sacred  care, 

The  Treasure  Thou  hast  given  us  here. 

Here  may  she  stand  to  speak  for  thee. 

Till  years  and  time  shall  cease  to  be.     .Amen. 


XHI.     Prayer 


XIV'.       DOXOLOGY 


To  God  the  Father,  God  the  Son, 
And  God  the  Spirit,  three  in  one, 
lie  honor, praise  and  glory  given, 
Hy  all  on  earth  and  all  in  heaven. 


XV.     Benediction 


12 


Order  of  EvENiN(i  Service 


I.  Organ  Voluntary  and  Anthem 

"  Praise  God  from  whom  all  blessings  flow."     Hallelujah 

II.  Invocation 


III.     Hymn 

"  The  God  of  glory,  down  to  men, 
Removes  his  blest  abode  ; — 

Men,  the  dear  objects  of  his  grace, 
And  he  their  living  God  : — 


Northfield 

"  His  own  soft  hands  shall  wipe  the  tears 

From  every  weeping  eye  ; 
And  pain,  and  groans,  and  griefs,  and  fears. 

And  death  itself  shall  die  !" 


How  long,  dear  Saviour  !  oh,  how  long 
Shall  this  bright  hour  delay? 

Fly  swifter  round,  ye  wheels  of  time  1 
And  bring  the  welcome  day. 

IV.  SCRU'TURES,  Psalm  Ix.xxvii.,  Ixxxix. 

(After  which,  by  request,  "  Montgomery  "  was  repeated) 

V.  Anthem — (Quartette 

"  Glorious  things  of  thee  are  spoken." — Holden 

VI.  Prayer 


VII.     Hymn 


Come,  we  who  love  tlie  Lord, 
And  let  our  joys  be  known ; 

Join  in  a  song  of  sweet  accord. 
And  thus  surround  the  throne. 

The  men  of  grace  have  found 

Glory  begun  below  ; 
Celestial  fruits  on  earthly  ground 

From  faith  and  hope  may  grow. 


Concord 

The  hill  of  Zion  yields 

A  thousand  sacred  sweets 
Before  we  reach  the  heavenly  fields. 

Or  walk  the  golden  streets. 

Then  let  our  songs  abound, 

And  every  tear  be  dry  ; 
We  're  marching  thro'  Immanuel's  ground. 

To  falter  worlds  on  high. 


VIII. 


Centennial  Times  and  Men  " 

By  Walter  S.  Nichols,  President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees 


TX.     Centennial  Hymn 


X.        I'KAVEK 


XI.     Hymn — Lenox 


XII.     Benediction 


(By  Request) 


'3 


The  offerings  at  tlie  services,  amounting  to  over 
^2,000,  were  on  behalf  of  the  New  Tabernacle  in  the 
Twelfth  Ward. 

At  the  close  of  the  Sunday  School  Session,  the 
pastor  delivered  an  address  on  the  life  and  work  of  Dr. 
MacWhorter,  after  which  the  entire  school  marched 
through  the  church  to  see  the  decorations  and  thence  to 
the  tomb  in  the  church  yard;  decorating  the  grave  with 
flowers  brought  for  that  purpose  by  the  scholars. 


The  Reception  was  held,  as  appointed,  on  Monday 
evening,  from  7.30  to  10,  and  the  rooms,  both  in  the  church 
and  the  chapel  were  thronged  ;  the  rooms  were  handsomely 
decorated  with  plants  ;  an  orchestra  supplied  the  music  in 
the  chapel,  and  the  organ  was  played  in  the  church. 

The  Reception  Committee  conducted  the  guests  to 
the  sub-committee  assisting  the  pastor  and  his  wife  in 
welcoming  the  many  friends  who  came  to  share  in  the  joy 
of  the  occasion. 

This  sub-committee  consisted  of  Mr.  A.  S.  Hubbell, 
who  is  probably  the  oldest  member  of  the  church  in  point 
of  years  ;  S.  H.  Pennington,  M.D.,  the  senior  elder  of  the 
church  ;  Mrs.  Nelson  Todd,  the  oldest  member  of  the  church, 
her  name  standing  first  on  the  roll ;  Mrs.  A.  S.  Day,  whose 
name  stands  second,  and  Mrs.  John  Miller,  whose  name 
stands  third. 

Eight  handsomely  decorated  tables  were  spread  in  the 
rooms  of  the  chapel  from  which  refreshments  were  served, 
and  were  presided  over  as  follows  : 

No.  I— Mrs.  W.  C.  Miller  and  Mrs.  Dr.  W.  S.  Baker. 

No.  2 — Mrs.  A.  J.  Hedges  and  Mrs.  Phineas  Jones. 

No.  3 — Mrs.  Wilmer  A.  Baldwin  and  Mrs.  Wm.  A.  Wendover. 

No.  4 — Mrs.  Dr.  T.  W.  Doweree  and  Mrs.  M.  P.  Butler. 


H 


No.  5 — Mrs.  Will.  T.  Carter  and  Mrs.  II.  M.  Keasbey. 
No.  6 — Mrs.  John  Poinier  and  Mrs.  V.  C.  Watts. 
No.  7 — Mrs.  W.  C.  Mason  and  Mrs.  J.  E.  Currier. 
No.  8 — Mrs.  W.  S.  Nichols  and  Miss  Anna  E.  Baldwin. 

The   following   ladies  served  as  waitresses    upon    the 
several  tables : 


Miss  Mary  Remer 

"  Maggie  Conover 

"  Mary  Beck 

"  Amie  Nichols 

"  Jessie  Baldwin 

"  Lulu  Jones 

"  Virginia  Woodruff 

"  Katharine  Woodruff 

"  Matilda  Vail 

"  Ella  Vad 

"  Belie  Halsey 

"  Lida  Macknet 

"  Frances  Titsw  orth 

"  Caroline  Condict 


Mi.ss  Helen  Abeel 
"     Sarah  Butler 
"     Katie  White 
"     Mary  Groshong 
"     Agnes  Woodruff 
"      Ilattie  Conover 
"     Eunice  Hopkins 
"      Russie  Dusenberry 
"     Phoebe  Frazer 
"  '  Evelyn  Watts 
"     Helen  Nichols 
"     Jessie  Wendover 
"     Emma  Righter 
"     Anna  fields 
Miss  Mary  Wautih 


In  the  course  of  the  evening  the  Hon.  Geo.  A.  Halsey 
called  the  company  to  order,  whereupon  Dr.  Pennington, 
the  senior  elder,  in  a  very  happily  expressed  address,  pre- 
sented the  pastor  with  a  handsome  pulpit  gown,  the  gift  of 
the  ladies  of  the  chuixh,  and  by  them  imported  from 
Scotland.  After  putting  on  the  new  robe  the  pastor  made 
his  acknowledgments,  and  returned  thanks  to  the  kind 
friends  and  donors  for  their  beautiful  gift. 


CENTENNIAL   SERMON 


r.V    THE    PASTOR 


REV.  D.  R.  FRAZER,  D.D. 


THE  BUILDING  OF  THE  OLD  CHURCH. 


Isaiah  xlix:i6. — "'  TJiy  ivalls  arc  continnaUy  before 
nicy 

Although  inspiration  most  signally  rebukes  that  ten- 
dency which  exalts  the  past  by  the  depression  of  the  present 
and  pronounces  as  "  not  wise  "  the  oft-repeated  inquiry, 
"  What  is  the  cause  that  the  former  days  were  better  than 
these  ?  ",  yet  there  are  occasions,  frequently  occurring  in 
the  liv^es  of  individuals  and  of  institutions,  which  justify 
the  wisdom  of  the  backward  glance,  and  warrant  us  in  "  re- 
membering the  days  of  old,"  and  in  "  considering  the 
years  of  many  generations." 

Such  an  occasion  is  the  present,  when,  gathering 
within  this  house,  now  venerable  with  age,  we  come,  not 
only  to  commemorate  the  fact  that  one  hundred  years  have 
elapsed  since  our  Fathers,  receiving  them  fresh  from  the 
workman's  hands,  solemnly  dedicated  these  walls  to  tlie  ser- 
vice and  worship  of  Almighty  God,  but  also  to  render  our 
hearty  thanks  for  that  divine  goodness  which  for  a  century 
has  preserved  from  fire  and  flood,  from  lightning  and  tem- 
pest, from  violence  and  earthquake,  the  house  which  the 
Fathers  built,  and  in  which  three  generations  have  been 
nurtured  in  the  faith,  and  "  made  meet  for  the  inheritance 
of  the  saints  in  light." 

Restricting  our  glance  retrospective  to  our  own  coun- 
try, just  think  how  far  this  century  carries  us  back  in  our 
national  history  and  what  marvellous  changes  it  has 
wrought  in  this  land.  One  hundred  years  ago,  although 
the  Federal  Constitution  had  been  formulated,  it  had  not 


1 8 


been  ratified  by  all  of  the  original  thirteen  States.  George 
Washington  was  then  serving  his  first  term  as  President, 
but  his  jurisdiction  extended  only  to  the  States  bordering 
on  the  Atlantic.  Beyond  this  narrow  confine  the  land  lay 
in  its  primeval  wildness.  The  (jenesee  river  was  the 
extreme  western  boundar)'.  The  Mississippi,  traversing 
the  heart  of  this  continent,  was  more  inaccessible  than  is 
today  the  Congo  which  traverses  the  heart  of  the  Dark- 
Continent.  Where  now  great  thriving  cities  stand,  or  the 
granaries  of  the  world  flourish,  then  only  the  Indian  trail 
or  war-path  could  be  found.  No  diviner's  rod  had  discov- 
ered, and  no  miner's  hand  had  brought  forth  the  inex- 
haustible treasures  of  mineral  wealth  which  the  soil  con- 
cealed. The  application  of  steam  to  mechanical,  commer- 
cial or  locomotive  purposes  was  almost  unknown  ;  the 
conception  that  the  electric  spark  could  be  made  to  speak 
with  the  accuracy  of  typograph)%  or  could  be  used  for 
illumination  and  propulsion,  had  not  yet  entered  into  the 
thought  of  the  wildest  dreamer  ;  the  public  press  was  a 
pigmy,  rather  than  a  giant ;  the  common  school  system 
was  unborn  ;  even  the  old  locofoco  match  had  not  made 
its  appearance  or  emitted  its  sulphurous  fumes.  The 
daily  living  of  the  period  was  of  the  most  primitive  char- 
acter, utterly  destitute  of  those  many  appliances  which  are 
now  regarded  as  absolutely  essential  to  comfort,  and  are 
so  common  that  they  fail  to  elicit  our  notice. 

When  we  take  into  consideration  these  facts,  which 
might  be  indefinitely  expanded  ;  when  we  recall  the  char- 
acter of  the  Fathers'  surroundings,  we  may  well  be 
astounded  as  we  note  the  work  of  their  hands.  While  we 
heartily  accord  the  fullest  meed  of  honor  to  the  men  of 
today,  who,  standing  in  the  van  of  human  progress,  have 
transformed  the  marvellous  into  the  ordinary  ;  while  we 
have  no  sympathy  with  that  sentiment  which  makes  those 
early  da}'s  the  model  for  all  time,  and  have  no   desire  to 


19 


return  to  the  narrow  life  of  the  Fathers,  in  which  only  one 
side  of  their  natures  found  expression  ;  while  we  rejoice  in 
the  fact  that  the  Puritan,  in  his  rigid  mood  and  tense,  has 
had  his  da}',  and  cannot  and  ought  not  to  come  back,  yet 
we  may  not  forget  that  the  foundations  of  the  present  are 
in  the  past,  and  we  should  reckon  the  Fathers  worthy  of 
double  honor  in  that  they  laid,  despite  the  imperfect  appli- 
ances of  their  times,  foundations  deep  and  broad  and 
strong  and  lasting.  The  simple  study  of  this  structure, 
which  is  all  we  now  attempt,  clearly  discloses  the  fact, 
that,  no  matter  how  narrow  they  may  have  been  in  other 
respects,  they  were  men  of  large  views  so  far  as  the 
Church  of  God  was  concerned,  otherwise  they  would 
never  have  reared  this  building  for  the  use  of  a  village, 
whose  entire  population  at  the  time  of  the  dedication 
could  not  have  exceeded  twelve  hundred  souls. 

As  the  growth  of  the  community  compelled  the 
abandonment  of  the  original  frame  house  which  for  a  half 
century  had  served  as  the  place  of  worship  and  as  the  general 
rendezvous  of  the  people,  so,  by  the  operation  of  the  same 
cause,  the  Fathers  were  confronted  with  the  necessity  of 
erecting  a  new  and  larger  house  of  worship  in  place  of  the 
stone  church  which  supplied  the  frame.  This  subject  was 
very  warmly  discussed  in  town  meetings  from  i/ 55-1 774, 
when  it  was  resolved  to  erect  a  new  building  on  School 
house  hill,  near  the  spot  where  the  Boys'  Home  now 
stands  on  Market  street,  provided  a  subscription  of  ;^2,ooo 
could  be  secured.  Respecting  this  movement,  Dr  Mac- 
VVhorter  says  :  "  The  subscription  was  instantly  filled, 
some  materials  collected  and  trenches  dug  for  the  new 
building  early  in  1775,  but  the  war  breaking  out  and  other 
circumstances  put  a  stop  to  our  proceedings  and  the 
materials  were  lost."  Notwithstanding  this  positive  asser- 
tion of  the  Pastor,  there  is  a  tradition  to  the  effect  that 
Deacons  Caleb    Wheeler    and    Ebenezer   Baldwin   buried 


20 


some  of  the  materials  thus  leathered  in  a  swamp  on  Elm 
street  about  one  mile  east  of  Mulberry,  and  that  "  the  good 
deacons  disinterred  the  concealed  treasure,  brought  it  to 
town  again,  and  probably  used  it  for  the  benefit  of  the  new 
edifice." 

Although  the  war  was  practically  ended  by  the  sur- 
render at  Yorktown,  yet  peace  was  not  formally  declared 
until  April  19th,  1783.  The  moral  declension,  incident  to 
a  state  of  war,  was  very  manifest  in  the  village,  but  was 
arrested  by  a  great  revival  which  occurred  in  1784,  and 
this,  in  turn,  led  to  the  renewal  of  the  project  of  building  a 
new  and  larger  church.  It  would  be  regarded  as  a  great 
undertaking  for  us  to  replace  this  edifice  today,  but  in  the 
850  members  now  enrolled  we  have  at  least  seventeen 
twentieths  of  the  entire  population  of  the  village  at  the 
time  this  project  was  revived,  yet  that  little  band  of  God- 
fearing men  and  women,  although  impoverished  by  an 
eight  years'  conflict,  although  their  appliances  for  building 
were  of  the  most  crude  character,  addressed  themselves  to 
the  work  of  rearing  a  structure,  at  a  cost  of  ^^"9,000  York, 
which  at  once  bears  witness  to  their  generosity,  their  en- 
larged views  and  their  public  spirit. 

The  work  assumed  a  practical  form  by  the  issuance 
of  the  following 

AGREEMENT. 

"  The  members  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Newark,  finding  that,  by  the  blessing  of  Divine  Provi- 
dence, they  are  so  far  increased  that  their  present  church 
is  by  far  too  small  for  the  congregation  to  assemble  in,  so 
that  members  are  prevented  attending  the  public  worship 
of  God,  and  being  impressed  with  a  sense  that  it  is  the 
duty  of  all  rational  beings,  especially  Christians,  to  erect 
decent  and  proper  houses  for  the  worship  of  their  Creator, 
and  sensible  how   remarkably   God   has  been   pleased  to 


21 


favor  this  town  ever  since  its  first  establishment,  and  the 
gratitude  that  is  due  to  him  ; 

"  Therefore,  The  subscribers  have  resolved,  with  de- 
pendence on  His  providence  for  the  success  of  their  honest 
endeavors,  to  attempt  the  raising  of  a  new  house  to  the 
honor  of  His  name,  do  therefore  severally  promise  to  pay 
or  cause  to  be  paid  unto  the  following  gentlemen,  for  the 
purpose  above  mentioned,  viz.:  Joseph  Davis,  David  John- 
son, Maj.  Samuel  Hays,  William  B.  Smith  and  Joseph 
Banks,  the  sum  of  money  annexed  to  their  respective 
names,  upon  the  following  plan,  viz.: 

"  (i )  The  money  to  be  paid  in  the  following  propor- 
tions, i.  i\,  the  one-fifth  part  on  or  before  the  first  day  of 
January  next  (1787)  ;  the  remaining  four-fifths  to  be  divid- 
ed into  two  equal  parts,  the  first  of  which  is  to  be  paid  on 
or  before  the  first  day  of  January,  1788,  and  the  second  and 
last  payment   on   or  before  the  first  day  of  January,  1789. 

"  (2)  Any  work  or  labor  or  any  material  proper  for 
the  building  shall  be  taken  in  payment  at  a  reasonable 
price,  and  also  any  kind  of  produce  at  the  market  rate. 

"(3)  As  soon  as  the  sum  of  ^^"3,000  is  subscribed,  the 
subscribers  to  be  called  together  and  to  choose  a  commit- 
tee to  form  a  plan  and  appoint  managers  of  the  business. 

"  (4)  The  building  to  be  erected  on  a  lot  to  be  pur- 
chased, opposite  the  present  house,  of  the  estate  of  Obadiah 
Crane,  deceased. 

"  (5)  The  house  to  be  properly  seated  and  the  pews  to 
be  sold  in  such  a  manner,  under  the  discretion  of  said 
committee,  so  that  each  subscriber  shall  be  credited  with 
his  subscription,  and  the  pew  shall  then  go  to  the  highest 
bidder. 

"(6)  The  subscription  to  be  written  on  parchment, 
and  kept  among  the  papers  of  the  church,  that  posterity 
may  see  what  proportion  each  famiU'  has  given  towards 
said  building. 


22 


"  For  which  payment,  each  for  himself,  and  not  one 
for  the  other,  binds  himself,  his  heirs,  executors  and  ad- 
ministrators, firmly  by  these  presents  this  first  day  of  Sep- 
tember, 1786." 

To  this  agreement,  a  long  list  of  names  in  double 
rows  is  appended.  That  the  work  was  begun  and  the  pre- 
scribed amount  of  ^3,000  was  speedily  pledged  are  attest- 
ed by  the  fact  that  the  third  condition  of  the  agreement 
was  soon  carried  into  practical  effect.  "  A  meeting  of  the 
subscribers  for  the  purpose  of  choosing  a  committee  to 
form  a  plan  and  appoint  managers  "  was  held,  as  the  result 
of  which  Caleb  Wheeler,  Caleb  Camp,  Nathaniel  Camp, 
Joseph  Banks,  Isaac  Ailing,  Wm.  P.  Smith,  Samuel  Hays, 
Benjamin  Coe,  Joseph  Davis,  Daniel  Johnson,  Moses 
Farrand,  Isaac  Plum,  Abiel  Camfield  and  Abraham  Ward 
were  constituted  the  building  committee.  We  have  no 
record  of  the  date  of  this  meeting,  but  it  must  have  been 
prior  to  September  i6th,  since  on  that  day  Capt.  Robert 
Nichols  rendered  a  bill  of  13  shillings  "  for  going  to  New 
York  two  days,  by  order  of  the  committee,"  so  that,  with- 
in a  fortnight  of  their  appointment,  we  find  the  committee 
busy  at  their  work. 

The  character  of  the  credits  discloses  the  readiness 
with  which  the  subscribers  availed  themselves  of  the  second 
condition  of  the  agreement  which  accepted  labor,  materials 
or  produce  in  payment  of  subscription.  To  John  Tichenor 
and  Phineas  Baldwin  pertains  the  honor  of  hauling  and 
delivering  on  the  28th  day  of  September,  1786,  the  first 
loads  of  stone  for  the  new  structure.  By  November  iith, 
1786,  so  vigorously  had  the  work  been  prosecuted,  that 
422  loads  were  deposited  on  the  lot.  The  last  stone  credit 
was  on  October  4th,  1787,  by  which  time  doubtless  suffi- 
cient material  for  the  proposed  edifice  had  been  gathered. 
Dr.  MacWhorter  is  credited.  May  12th,  1787,  with  53,^  days 
tending,  ^i  .8.9;   May  28,  5  days  tending,  £1.5  shillings. 


There  are  credits  for  shovelling  sand,  a  day's  chopping-, 
carting  clay,  teams  of  horses,  planks,  nails,  sheepskins, 
shoes,  2  quart  jug,  tin  mug,  cyder,  rum,  &c.,  &c.,  &c.  In 
fact,  the  church  seems  to  have  served  as  a  sort  of  clearing 
house  for  the  debts  of  the  village.  If  A.  owed  B.  five 
pounds,  B.  would  say,  "  A.,  I  have  subscribed  five  pounds 
towards  the  meeting  house.  You  settle  that  and  I  will 
give  you  a  receipt  in  full."  Whereupon  A.  would  either 
give  his  labor,  or  send  the  committee  a  load  of  hay,  or  a 
bundle  of  sheepskins,  or  the  work  of  a  horse  team,  the 
same  being  duly  credited  to  B.'s  subscription.  It  is  note- 
worthy, as  indicative  of  the  general  interest  in  the  enter- 
prise, that  the  ferries  and  the  highways  exempted  from  toll 
all  materials  used  in  the  construction  of  the  building. 

I  have  been  informed  that  the  architect  of  the  church 
was  Eleazar  Ball,  but  have  not  been  able  to  learn  whether 
he  drew  the  designs,  or  simply  supervised  tlie  construc- 
tion. He  was  the  nephew  of  Moses  Ball,  whose  will  be- 
queathing the  parsonage  wood  lands  to  the  church  may 
be  seen  on  record  at  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State  at 
Trenton.  Mr.  Ball,  the  architect,  lived  at  Middleville, 
about  one  mile  above  Irvington,  in  a  house  which  he 
named,  and  which  I  am  told  is  still  known  as  Tuscan  Hall. 
He  was  accustomed,  during  the  progress  of  the  work  upon 
the  church,  to  drive  over  every  morning,  supervise  the 
operations  of  the  day  and  then  drive  home  at  night. 

I  have  also  been  told  that  the  ornamental  wood  work 
of  the  building  was  done  by  Eleazar  Camp,  an  Elder  from 
1794  until  his  death  which  occurred  in  1821. 

After  the  work  of  gathering  stone  had  been  carried 
on  very  vigorously  for  about  six  weeks,  it  appears  that 
some  difficulty,  hindering  the  successful  prosecution  of  the 
same,  must  have  arisen,  for  we  find,  on  November  iith, 
1786,  that  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  was  held  at 
the  house  of  Elisha  Boudinot,   the  President,  when  it  was 


24 


resolved  "  that  advertisement  be  put  up  immediately  : 
when  the  parsonage  lots  were  leased  the  Trustees  reserved 
to  themselves  the  privilei^e  of  getting  stone  off  the  same 
for  the  purpose  of  building  a  church,  if  the  same  was 
erected  during  the  term.  And  the  congregation  having 
begun  to  build  a  church,  it  is  ordered  that  the  managers 
of  the  said  building  be  authorized  to  direct  any  person  or 
persons  to  get  the  said  stone  for  the  purpose  aforesaid  ; 
advising  the  said  managers  at  the  same  time  to  give  a 
preference  to  the  lessees  of  the  said  lots,  provided  they  will 
get  the  stone  at  the  time  the  said  managers  shall 
appoint." 

Whether  the  lessees  failed  to  live  up  to  their  contract 
or  were  unable  to  come  to  time  with  the  managers,  it  is 
evident  something  was  working  adversely,  for  on  April 
13th,  1787,  the  Trustees  fulminated  as  follows  : 

"  It  is  agreed  that  Mr.  Ailing  give  notice  to  the 
Trustees  of  the  Parsonage  lots  that  they  shall  have  until 
the  first  day  of  May  next,  to  get  stones  from  their  own 
lots,  and  after  that  time  general  permission  shall  be  given 
to  any  persons  to  get  stone  for  the  use  of  the  church  from 
the  same." 

In  the  meantime,  while  the  stones  were  being  gath- 
ered, the  Trustees  were  bestirring  themselves  in  other 
directions  to  raise  the  funds  needful  for  the  prosecution  of 
the  work.  At  a  meeting  held  June  7th,  1787,  it  was 
"  agreed  that  the  money  collected  for  the  purpose  of  pur- 
chasing tickets  in  the  Pennsylvania  lottery  be  laid  out  in 
tickets  in  the  Elizabethtown  lottery,  as  none  can  be  pro- 
cured in  the  former."  I  suppose  these  instructions  were 
literally  obeyed,  for  I  find  a  dateless  record  which  reads  as 
follows  :  "  Tickets  in  the  Elizabethtown  Lottery — Trustees 
17,  1466.7.8.  1746.7.8.  1414."  I  cannot  interpret  for  you 
the  meaning  of  these  cabalistic  numbers  ;  I  cannot  tell  you 
whether  the  tickets  drew  a  prize  or  not,  but  I  can  tell  you 


25 


the  Fathers  had  no  more  conscience  on  the  subject  than 
tliey  had  on  the  keeping  of  liquor  on  their  sideboards  and 
the  proffering  the  dram  to  every  visitor,  and  they  thought 
no  more  of  either  than  you  and  I  do  of  paying  a  lawful 
bill  and  taking  a  cup  of  coffee.  A  lottery  was  regarded  as 
a  perfectly  legitimate  business.  A  wheel  of  fortune  was 
set  up  in  every  village  and  hamlet.  If  a  little  stream  was 
to  be  bridged,  or  a  public  building  erected,  or  a  school 
house  repaired,  or  a  street  paved,  or  a  road  mended,  or 
a  college  treasury  replenished,  or  a  church  built,  a 
lottery  bill  was  passed  b)'  the  Legislature,  the  tickets 
were  issued,  the  wheel  turned  and  the  money  raised.  Our 
godly  Fathers  would  not  do  a  great  many  things  over 
which  their  degenerate  descendants  have  no  scruples,  but 
they  would  laugh  to  scorn  that  modern  and  morbid  sensi- 
tiveness (as  they  would  regard  it)  which  today  excludes 
the  Louisiana  lottery  from  the  United  States  mail. 

So  successfully  was  the  preparatory  work  carried  on 
that  Dr.  MacWhorter  was  able,  in  the  month  of  September, 
the  day  of  the  month  and  the  hour  of  the  day  being  un- 
known, to  break  ground  for  the  new  church  and  to  lay 
"  the  first  stone  "  in  position.  The  traditions  reaching  us 
are  that  the  Pastor,  Session  and  People  arranged  them- 
selves according  to  age  and  office  ;  that  Dr.  MacWhorter, 
standing  at  the  northeast  corner  of  the  lot,  made  a  brief 
address,  offered  a  prayer,  and  then  took  out,  with  his  own 
hand,  the  first  spadeful  of  earth.  Deacon  Caleb  Wheeler 
took  out  the  next.  Soon  the  whole  company  was  at  work 
and  the  opening  of  the  trenches  was  completed  in  a  few 
hours.  It  is  probable  that  "  the  first  stone  "  was  laid  on 
this  occasion,  but  we  have  no  exact  information  regarding 
the  date,  the  location  of  the  stone  or  the  inscription  on  it, 
the  tablet  without  and  the  memorial  slab  within  the  church 
simply  stating  that  Dr.  MacWhorter  laid  the  first  stone  in 
the  month  of  September.     There  is,  however,  a  tradition, 


26 


claiming  to  be  traceable  back  to  Deacon  Tichenor,  which 
gives  September  24th  as  the  day. 

And  now  the  great  work  was  fairly  under  way. 
Honest  and  skilful  builders  soon  had  the  walls  above 
ground,  and  as  they  rose  higher  and  higher  the  materials 
were  hoisted  by  the  aid  of  a  windlass  placed  in  the  road, 
the  power  being  supplied  by  horses,  and  the  horses  in  turn 
being  doubtless  furnished  by  the  members  of  the  church, 
since  this  supposition  will  alone  explain  the  item  of 
"  horse  "  hire  which  appears  so  continuously  in  the  credit 
account.  The  only  accident  reported  befell  Sayres  Coe, 
son  of  Benjamin  Coe,  a  boy  19  years  of  age,  who  was 
nearly  killed  by  a  beam  falling  on  his  shoulder. 

The  ladies  bore  their  share  of  the  burden  by  feeding 
the  workmen  engaged  on  the  building.  Miss  Hannah  Coe 
is  reported  to  have  said  that  she  cut  bread  and  butter 
enough  to  have  filled  her  father's  large  kitchen  to  reple- 
tion, could  the  product  of  her  toil  have  been  gathered  at 
one  time  in  that  place. 

But  we  can  readily  understand  that  an  architect,  be  he 
never  so  efficient,  and  workmen,  be  they  never  so  skilful, 
even  when  aided  by  the  windlass  and  fed  by  the  ladies, 
could  not  build  this  church  without  money,  hence  we  read 
in  the  Trustees'  record  of  a  meeting  held  March  3d,  1788, 
as  follows  :  "It  being  represented  to  the  Board  that  the 
committees  for  building  the  new  church  found  themselves 
under  the  necessity  of  borrowing  some  money,  and  that 
individuals  would  give  their  bonds  for  the  money  so  bor- 
rowed, if  this  Board  would  indemnify  the  individuals  ;  the 
Board,  taking  the  same  into  consideration,  and  viewing  the 
said  committees  as  the  congregation,  appoint  Mr.  Ailing 
to  inform  the  said  committees  that,  if  they  would  put  this 
request  in  writing  and  send  it  to  this  Board,  they  would 
comply  with  the  same. 

"  Voted   that  Andrew  Mason  and  Samuel   Hunting-- 


27 


don's  bond,  dated  February  ist,  1 787, for /^22. 2.1 ,  be  i^iven 
up  to  the  committee  for  building  the  new  church,  to  go  in 
payment  of  stone  purchased  of  Mr.  Huntingdon." 

The  Trustee  records  of  September  15th,  1788,  give  us 
a  glance  at  an  act  of  interdenominational  courtesy  which 
ought  not  to,  but  which  tloes,  seem  strange  in  these  pro- 
gressive days  :  "  The  Trustees,  considering  the  great 
advantage  that  will  result  to  the  town  in  general  from  a 
good  clock,  and  the  steeple  of  the  new  church  being  so 
central  that  a  clock  may  be  heard  throughout  the  town  : 
And  the  Trustees  being  informed  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Ogden 
offers  to  give  up  the  subscription  that  was  raised  some 
time  ago  for  erecting  a  clock  at  his  church  towards  the 
same :  Resolved  that  David  Banks,  Esq.,  and  Mr.  John 
Ikirnet  be  a  committee  to  open  a  subscription  for  the 
purpose  aforesaid,  and  that  they  be  desired  to  apply  to  Mr. 
Moses  Ogden  and  recjuest  the  favor  of  him  to  join  them, 
and  to  superintend  the  making  of  the  clock,  and  that  his 
direction  be  followed  accordingly." 

(^nce  more  the  troublesome  money  question  arises. 
On  July  19th,  1790,  the  records  read:  "It  being  repre- 
sented by  the  managers  for  building  the  new  church  that 
the  subscription  is  nearly  run  out,  and  that  it  will  be  nec- 
essary for  some  engagement  to  be  entered  into  with  the 
carpenter  for  the  future  work,  it  is  unanimously  resolved 
that  this  Board  will  fulfil  the  engagements  the  said  man- 
agers shall  enter  into  with  such  carpenters  as  they  may 
think  proper  to  employ  to  complete  the  work." 

After  this  generous  proffer,  there  is  a  yawning  chasm, 
a  great  gap,  in  the  Trustees'  records.  Although  the  book 
is  free  from  mutilation,  the  ne.xt  entry  bears  date  of  Febru- 
ary i6th,  1793,  thus  leaping  over  and  giving  no  account  of 
the  dedicatory  services.  Stranger  still,  a  similar  gap  ap- 
pears in  the  Sessional  Records,  so  that  there  is  not  a  line 
in  the  church  books  to  tell  of  that  august  event. 


28 


And  I  regret  to  say  that  the  public  press  fails  to  sup- 
plement the  deficiencies  of  church  records.  The  Newark 
of  a  century  ago  could  not  boast  a  newspaper.  A  weekly 
journal  called  Woods'  Nm'ai'k  Garjcite  and  Nczv  Jersey 
Ad7>erfiser  m&de  its  appearance  on  May  13th,  1791,  four 
and  a  half  months  after  the  dedication,  while  the  Soitiiui 
of  Freedom  was  not  issued  until  October  5th,  1796,  five 
years  and  ten  months  after  that  event. 

Elizabethtown,  our  nearest  neighbor  and  earliest  rival, 
outstripped  Newark  in  the  matter  of  a  local  paper.  TJie 
New  Jersey  Journal  and  Politieal  Intelligencer,  in  its  issue  of 
Wednesday,  January  5th,  1791,  gives  a  report  of  the  de- 
bates on  the  Militia  bill  ;  a  list  of  candidates  propounded 
by  the  Governor  of  New  Jersey  for  Representatives  in 
Congress  ;  the  arrival  of  the  British  packet  Roebuck,  Capt. 
Scoufe,  at  New  York,  39  days  from  Falmouth,  and  bring- 
ing the  news  of  the  opening  of  the  British  Parliament ;  a 
treaty  signed  between  England  and  Spain  ;  a  contention  at 
Martinique  ;  a  piracy  at  Basseterre  ;  an  advertisement  of 
the  Princeton  and  Newton  Lottery  scheme  ;  the  date  and 
place  of  a  negro  sale ;  and  then  follows  this  delightful 
piece  of  information  :  "  On  New  Year's  day,  that  elegant 
building,  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Newark,  was  conse- 
crated to  the  service  of  the  true  God,  and  an  excellent  dis- 
course was  delivered  by  the  venerable  Dr.  MacWhorter  to 
a  large  audience."  This  is  all.  We  know  not  the  text; 
we  know  not  a  word  that  was  said  ;  we  know  not  the 
Scriptures  read,  or  the  hymns  sung  ;  we  know  not  who  as- 
sisted in  the  conduct  of  the  service ;  but  we  do  gather, 
through  the  aid  of  this  paper,  that  the  dedicatory  services 
must  have  been  held  on  Saturday,  as  1791  came  in  on  that 
day,  a  statement  confirmed  by  the  testimony  of  the  late 
Mrs.  Oehme,  who  lived  to  a  very  advanced  age,  but  pre- 
served a  remarkable  clearness  of  mind.  The  day  before 
her  death  she  told  me  that  her  parents  lived  on  the  north 


29 


side  of  Market  street,  between  Halsey  and  Washington  ;  that 
one  of  her  earliest  recollections  was  the  glowing  account 
that  her  parents  used  to  give  of  the  grand  feast  served 
after  the  dedication.  The  tables  ran  through  the  halls  and 
parlors  of  her  father's  house,  and  as  soon  as  one  table  was 
emptied  of  guests,  it  was  speedily  refilled  with  others,  a 
style  of  performance  which  w'ould  not  have  been  tolerated 
on  the  Sabbath  day  by  the  stern  old  disciples  of  that  date. 

The  ground  upon  which  the  church,  now  completed 
and  dedicated,  stood,  sloped  gently  toward  Market  street. 
In  grading  the  street,  which  was  done  by  raising  the  level, 
the  foundation  of  the  church  was  buried  about  one  foot 
and  a  half,  bringing  the  water  table  near  the  ground,  as  we 
see  it  today.  By  reason  of  this  elevation,  the  entrance  to 
the  church  originally  was  by  means  of  two  or  three  steps, 
at  each  of  the  doors.  Instead  of  opening  into  vestibules 
as  at  present,  the  doors  then  led  directly  into  the  house, 
and  the  seats  ran  flush  up  to  the  door.  In  the  later  years, 
some  of  the  seats  near  the  doors  were  removed  to  make 
room  for  stoves,  from  which,  for  a  proper  consideration, 
coals  might  be  had  to  supply  the  portable  foot  stoves, then 
in  general  use  by  the  older  people. 

The  arrangement  of  the  aisles  was  very  much  after  the 
present  order,  the  only  exception  being  a  graceful  curve 
in  front  of  the  pulpit,  and  the  two  pews  on  either  side  of 
the  middle  aisle  conforming  thereto.  Dr.  MacWhorter's 
family  occupied  the  curved  pew  on  the  south  side. 

But  the  arrangement  for  seating  was  very  different. 
When  completed  the  church  had  i8o  seats  and  24  pews,  120 
of  the  seats  being  on  the  ground  floor  and  60  in  the  gal- 
leries. The  term  "  seats,"  as  then  used,  designated  what 
we  now  call  "pews,"  while  the  name  "  pew"  was  given  to 
that  which  we  now  call  a  box  or  square  or  double  pew. 
Both  seats  and  pews  were  straight,  and  were  at  least  a  foot 
and  a  half  higher  in  the  back  than  those  you   now  occupy. 


^o 


The  pews  ran  under  the  galleries  until  they  came  within 
one  seat  of  the  end  of  the  middle  block,  then  the  seats  ran 
back  to  the  west  wall.  In  the  middle  block  were  "seats," 
with  the  exception  of  the  two  curved  pews  already  men- 
tioned. The  base  of  the  steeple  then  stood  in  the  church, 
and  around  it  were  seats,  ending,  as  at  present,  in  a  square 
pew  on  either  side  of  the  middle  aisle.  There  were  also 
seats  on  either  side  of  the  pulpit.  In  the  galleries,  the  seats 
were  arranged  in  rows  of  four,  save  at  the  east  end,  where 
there  were  five.  Two  rows  of  seats  ran  around  the  steeple 
with  the  stairs  commg  back  of  them.  There  were  two 
aisles  in  the  west  gallery,  the  centre  rows  of  seats  being  re- 
served for  the  choir,  who  made  effective  use  of  the  old  pitch 
pipe  in  getting  the  key  for  the  service  of  song. 

,  The  pulpit,  which  stood  very  high  in  the  air,  the  pas- 
tor's feet  being  nearly,  if  not  quite,  on  a  level  with  the 
gallery  floor,  was  white  in  color  and  octagonal  in  form. 
The  preacher  entered  it  by  ascending  about  ten  steps  on  the 
north  side,  walking  along  a  level  platform  in  the  rear  of  the 
pulpit,  which  stood  out  some  distance  from  the  east  wall  of 
the  church  ;  then  ascending  two  or  three  steps  on  the  south 
side,  he  found  the  door,  through  which  he  obtained  access 
into  the  sacred  desk,  which  was  surmounted  with  an  enor- 
mous sounding  board,  conforming  in  shape  to  the  general 
contour  of  the  pulpit,  and  handsomely  carved  in  accord  with 
the  ornamentation  of  the  church,  a  sample  of  which  is  given 
in  the  dove,  star  and  cornucopia  overhanging  this  pulpit  arch. 
Dr.  Stearns  says  that  the  old  pulpit  from  which  Mac- 
Whorter  and  Griffen  and  Richards  preached  was  given  to  a 
church  in  Paterson  ;  was  afterwards  sold  by  them  ;  was 
bought  by  the  Roman  Catholics ;  was  used,  and  for  aught  that 
I  know  to  the  contrary,  may  be  still  used  by  them  in  their 
church  at  Paterson,  where,  having  mounted  it  on  rollers, 
they  push  it  to  the  various  parts  of  the  chancel,  according 
to  the  needs  of  their  service. 


31 


Back  of  the  pulpit  was  a  large  Venetian  window,  con- 
sisting of  three  parts,  the  central  part,  which  was  higher 
than  the  two  sides,  being  curved  on  the  top,  while  the  two 
sides  were  square.  The  central  part  was  panelled  during 
Dr.  Richards'  pastorate,  to  protect  him  from  draft. 

The  recess  beneath  the  pulpit  was  enclosed  by  a 
wooden  partition,  which  was  about  5  feet  high,  followed  the 
general  curve  of  the  front  aisle,  and  like  the  pews  of  the 
church  was  made  to  represent  mahogany.  In  this  recess  or 
chancel,  Dr.  Uzal  Ogden,  who  had  been  the  rector  of 
Trinity  Church  but  had  left  in  consequence  of  some  misun- 
derstanding, was  accustomed  to  sit  during  the  church  ser- 
vices. 

It  is  difficult  to  give  you  in  words  an  idea  of  the  orig- 
inal ceiling,  which  must  have  been  beautiful.  Trinity 
Church  ceiling  was  modelled  after  it,  but  lacked  the  height 
which  this  house  afforded.  Instead  of  being  square  and 
right  angled,  the  sides  of  the  church  were  arched,  giving  in 
the  slope  an  additional  height  of  ten  feet  to  this  ceiling,  at 
least  so  I  should  judge  from  a  study  of  the  plaster  marks  in 
the  attic.  These  arches  terminated  in  a  graceful  panel,  run- 
ning the  length  of  the  church.  From  this  panel  were  sus- 
pended three  iron  rods,  painted  blue,  except  at  certain 
intervals,  where  the  rods  were  twisted  and  the  twists  were 
gilded.  At  the  end  of  these  rods,  three  very  handsome 
glass  chandeliers  hung,  while  on  either  side  of  the  church, 
under  the  galleries,  there  were  sconces  to  hold  lights.  The 
illumination  of  the  church  was  derived  from  tallow  candles, 
and  if  evening  services  were  held,  the  hour  of  assemblage 
was  usually  "  at  early  candle  light."  The  change  in  the 
ceiling  was  made  to  accommodate  one  of  the  pastors,  who 
found  it  difficult  to  fill  so  large  a  building  with  his  voice. 

Shortly  after  the  dedication,  in  accordance  with  the 
fifth  article  of  the  agreement,  the  following  declaration  was 
issued  : 


"  Be  it  remembered  that  we,  Caleb  Wheeler,  William 
P.  Smith,  Moses  Farrand,  Caleb  Camp,  Samuel  Hayes, 
Isaac  Plum,  Nathaniel  Camp,  Benjamin  Coe,  Abiel  Cam- 
field,  Joseph  Banks,  Joseph  Davis,  Abraham  Ward,  Isaac 
Ailing  and  Daniel  Johnson,  the  committee  appointed  to 
build  the  new  church,  being  met,  pursuant  to  the  order  and 
direction  of  the  subscribers,  as  contained  in  the  subscrip- 
tion, to  ccnisider  of  and  agree  upon  the  most  eligible  plan 
of  seating  the  house  and  selling  the  pews,  so  as  to  do 
justice  to  the  subscribers,  and,  if  possible,  give  satisfaction 
to  all,  have,  after  due  deliberation,  concluded  to  sell  them, 
at  vendue,  in  the  church  upon  the  following  terms  :  The 
vendue  to  begin  on  Tuesday,  the  ist  day  of  February  next, 
at  one  of  the  clock  in  the  afternoon,  agreeably  to  public 
notice  repeatedly  given  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  MacWhorter  from 
the  desk,  the  vendue  to  be  adjourned  from  time  to  time  as 
circumstances  may  require  : 

"  First.     The  pews  are  all  to  be  numbered  and  marked. 

"  Secojidly.  They  are  all  to  be  appraised  according  to 
the  supposed  relative  value,  so  that  the  whole  may  amount 
to  i^7,ooo. 

"  Thirdly.  No  seat  or  pew  shall  be  set  up  to  sale  un- 
less some  person  shall  bid  for  it  the  sum  at  which  it  is 
appraised  or  more,  and  then  it  shall  be  struck  off  to  him 
unless  some  person  shall  bid  above  him,  the  highest  bidder 
always  to  be  the  purchaser,  and  he  and  his  heirs  shall  for- 
ever have  an  exclusive  right  to  his  seat,  and  shall  quietly 
and  peacefully  hold  and  possess  it,  without  any  molestation 
or  interruption  whatever;  provided  always  that  he  hath 
paid  or  shall  pay  the  price  at  which  it  was  struck  off,  to  the 
satisfaction  of  the  committee. 

"  hoiirihly.  No  person  shall  be  permitted  for  the  pres- 
ent to  purchase  more  than  two  common  seats  or  one  square 
pew,  notwithstanding  he  may  have  paid  or  shall  be  willing 
to  pay  the  price  of  more  ;  but  if  hereafter  his  family  .should 


increase  so  that  more  room  should  be  thought  necessary 
for  them,  he  or  they  may  purchase  any  vacant  seats  or  pews 
under  the  above  restrictions. 

"'Fifthly.  If  two  or  more  persons  shall  be  desirous  of 
uniting  in  purchasing  one  pew  or  seat,  they  shall  have  lib- 
erty to  do  so,  and  may  jointly  hold  and  possess  it. 

"  Sixthly.  The  number  and  situation  of  each  pew  and 
seat,  together  with  the  name  of  the  purchaser,  and  the 
price  for  which  it  shall  be  sold,  shall  be  plainly  marked  on 
a  plan  of  the  building  drawn  upon  parchment  by  order  of 
the  committee,  to  which  these  articles  are  to  be  prefixed,  a 
fair  copy  of  all  which  shall  be  made  and  entered  in  the 
church  book  containing  the  particulars  of  the  account  of 
every  subscriber,  which  record  shall  always  be  esteemed 
sufficient  evidence  of  the  purchaser's  title  to  that  pew  or 
seat,  and  his  posterity's  after  him. 

"  And  we  do  appoint  Nathaniel  Camp,  Benjamin  Coe, 
Joseph  Banks,  Joseph  Davis  and  Daniel  Johnson  a  sub- 
committee to  hold  the  vendue  and  sell  tlie  seats  as  agreed 
upon  and  directed. 

"  Newark,  January,  1791." 

That  these  directions  were  literally  obeyed  is  proven 
by  the  parchment  in  the  custody  of  our  Trustees. 

It  is  pleasing  to  note  that  "virtue  was  its  own  sweet 
reward  "in  those  early  days,  as  it  is  now.  To  Miss  Hannah 
Coe,  the  young  lady  to  whom  reference  has  been  made  as 
cooperating  so  heartily  in  the  work  of  church  erection  by 
her  untiring  diligence  in  the  bread  and  butter  department, 
pertains  the  peculiar  glory  of  being  the  first  lady  to  be 
married  in  the  new  church  by  Dr.  MacWhorter.  She  be- 
came the  wife  of  Matthias  Bruen  of  Perth  Amboy,  and  the 
mother  of  the  Rev.  Matthias  Bruen,  for  many  years  the 
faithful  and  efficient  pastor  of  the  Bleecker  Street  Church, 
New  York  City.  Her  husband  occupied  that  handsome 
Bruen  mansion  in  Perth  Amboy,  which,  by  the  munificonce 


34 


of  Alexander  Bruen,  has  been  dedicated  as  a  home  for  aged 
and  disabled  Presbyterian  ministers. 

The  work  wrought  by  Wm.  Camp,  in  secret,  deserves 
proclamation  from  the  housetop.  It  appears  that  the  mud 
in  front  of  the  church  was  so  deep  that  it  was  almost  im- 
possible to  enter.  One  morning  the  villagers  were  aston- 
ished to  find  a  comfortable  sidewalk  laid  and  ready  for  use. 
Being  a  singularly  modest  man,  Mr.  Camp  had  had  the 
work  done  by  night,  in  order  that  no  one  might  know  who 
did  it. 

Whether  the  building  committee  made  an  underesti- 
mate when  they  set  ^7,000  as  the  sum  necessary  to  be 
realized  from  the  sale  of  pews  to  liquidate  the  debt  of  the 
church,  or  whether  the  sale  did  not  realize  the  amount  sug- 
gested, does  not  appear;  but  it  is  very  plain,  although  the 
church  was  built,  dedicated  and  used,  it  was  not  paid  for, 
and,  strangest  of  all,  it  seems  as  though  none  of  the  men 
of  that  day  could  determine  its  exact  cost. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Trustees,  held  May  21st,  1793, 
"  the  President  laid  before  the  Board  that  he  had  received 
a  second  payment  of  ^^^232,  15  s.  on  the  sale  of  the 
old  church,  which  he  was  authorized  to  use  in  discharging 
bonds."  This  payment  was  made  on  the  basis  of  a  contract 
entered  into  during  the  building  of  the  church,  as  follows: 

"  Whereas,  the  Board  of  Justices  and  Chosen  Free- 
holders of  the  County  of  Essex  did  agree  to  purchase  of 
the  Trustees  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  Newark 
the  lott  of  land  adjoining  the  court  house  lott  in  Newark, 
with  the  house  or  building  thereon,  for  which  they  did 
agree  to  give  the  sum  of  ^^300,  and  did  appoint  Abiel  Cam- 
field,  Henry  Geritz  and  Stephen  Crane,  Esq.,  a  committee 
to  receive  the  said  deed,  as  will  appear  by  the  record  of 
this  proceeding  duly  entered,  therefore  we,  the  subscribers, 
in  obedience  to  said  order,  do  acknowledge  that  we  have 
received    of   the   said   Trustees   of  the   First   Presbyterian 


35 


Church  in  Newark  the  deed  for  said  premises,  duly  execu- 
ted and  acknowledged,  agreeably  to  the  said  bargain  and 
agreement  with  the  said  Justices  and  Freeholders. 

"As  witness  our  hand  this  2 1st  day  of  September, 
1790.  "  Stephen  Crane, 

"  Henry  Geritz, 
"  Abiel  Cameield." 

l^ut  the  sale  of  the  old  church  and  the  application  of 
the  proceeds  did  not  cancel  the  debt  on  the  new  building. 

On  January  3rd,  1794,  three  years  after  the  dedication, 
"  Mr.  Caleb  Bruen  laid  before  the  Board  his  account  for 
work  done  at  the  new  church,  and  requested  that  the 
Trustees  would  either  pay  the  same  or  give  him  an  obliga- 
tion under  the  seal  of  the  corporation  •  for  the  amount.  It 
is  ordered  unanimously  that  the  same  be  allowed  and  that 
the  President  do   execute  an   obligation  accordingly." 

On  January  loth,  1794,  "  a  committee  to  receive  the 
books  and  papers  relative  to  the  new  church  "  was  ap- 
pointed ;  but  matters  seem  to  have  been  in  great  confusion, 
for  on  April  7th,  1794,  "  Mr.  Samuel  Baldwin,  to  whom  the 
Board  had  committed  the  examination  and  adjustment  of 
the  books  of  the  new  church,  reported  that  he  had  attempt- 
ed to  open  an  accomit  against  the  new  church,  agreeably  to 
the  request  of  the  Trustees,  in  order  to  ascertain  what  the 
building  cost,  and  how  much  we  were  in  debt  for  the  same, 
but  that  he  found  so  many  difficulties  in  the  accounts,  from 
the  mode  in  which  they  were  kept,  that  he  doubted  whether 
he  could  accomplish  it.  The  Board  resolved  that  Mr. 
Baldwin  be  requested  to  accomplish  the  business,  if  possi- 
ble, and  also  make  an  abstract  of  the  persons  who  appear 
to  be  debtors  to  the  church." 

But  Mr.  Baldwin  did  not  "  accomplish  the  business," 
for  on  Februaiy  loth,  1795,  one  year  after  it  was  left  in  his 
hands,  the   Trustees   "  resolved   that   Wednesday  in    each 


36 

week  be  appointed  for  the  settlement  of  the  books  of  the 
new  church,"  but  I  am  unable  to  report  with  what  success 
their  efforts  were  crowned,  having  vainly  searched  the 
Trustee  r^^cords  for  any  authoritative  statement  of  the  exact 
cost  of  the  new  building.  Neither  can  I  tell  you  just  when 
the  debt  ceased  to  be  burdensome,  but  today,  as  we  walk 
about  Zion  and  go  round  about  her,  telling  the  towers 
thereof,  marking  well  her  bulwarks  and  considering  her 
palaces,  we  can  heartily  rejoice  that  the  church  was  built, 
that  the  debts  were  paid,  and  we  just  as  heartily  pray  God 
that  He  will  long  spare  the  church  of  the  Fathers  to  be  the 
sanctuary  for  children  and  children's  children,  even  unto 
the  latest  generation  of  men. 

I  have  thus  endeavored,  so  far  as  was  practicable  to 
gather  up  all  that  is  known  respecting  the  erection  of  this 
church  edifice. 

But  this  recital  and  the  observance  of  this  hour  will 
be  futile,  if  they  do  not 

(I.)  Awaken  within  us  a  sense  of  our  obligation  to 
work  in  the  interests  of  those  who  are  to  come  after  us. 
The  service  of  this  hour  is  a  living  commentary  on  the 
Master's  declaration,  "  I  sent  you  to  reap  that  whereon  ye 
bestowed  no  labor.  Other  men  labored,  and  ye  have 
entered  into  their  labors."  Rejoicing  in  the  rich  heritage 
we  have  received,  and  accepting  it,  not  as  a  legacy  to  be 
squandered,  but  as  a  solemn  trust  to  be  conserved,  how  can 
we  better  express  our  lasting  appreciation  of  the  great  work 
of  the  Fathers  than  by  following  the  Fathers'  example  ?  In 
their  poverty,  they  built  our  church.  If,  in  our  abundance, 
we  uprear  our  Tabernacle  in  the  12th  ward,  then,  long  after 
we  shall  have  been  gathered  to  the  Fathers,  our  work  will 
live  and  speak  forth  our  appreciation  of  the  inestimable  worth 
of  Christ's  go.spel,  even  as,  for  a  century  now  happily  past, 
the  old  church  has  spoken  for  the  Fathers. 

(II.)     So  also  the  services   of   this  hour  should  beget 


37 


within  us  devout  gratitude  to  God  for  all  His  mercies 
toward  us.  It  is  His  providential  care  over  and  loving  in- 
terest in  this  church  which  has  preserved  it  in  the  past  and 
becomes  the  pledge  of  good  in  the  years  to  come.  As  we 
here  rehearse  the  history  of  the  bye-gone,  joy  in  the  expe- 
riences of  the  present,  and  are  cheered  by  the  prospects  for 
the  future,  let  us,  with  a  hearty  recognition  of  the  divine 
goodness  and  a  deep  sense  of  our  dependence,  unite  our 
hearts  and  voices  in  crying,  "  Not  unto  us,  O  Lord  ;  not 
unto  the  Fathers,  O  Lord  ;  but  unto  Thy  name  be  all  the 
glory." 

(HL)  I  am  not  unmindful  of  the  fact  that,  while  I 
have  been  tracing  the  history  of  this  material  structure,  I 
have  left  untouched  another  and  a  vastly  more  important 
history,  but  I  have  left  it  untouched  .because  the  records  of 
the  spiritual  building  can  be  gathered  only  from  that  book 
of  remembrance  which  is  before  God.  No  man  can  grasp 
much  less  tell,  what  has  been  accomplished  for  Christ  in 
the  century  within  this  house  and  by  the  influences  which 
have  emanated  from  it.  If  a  tongue  could  be  put  in  these 
massive  but  mute  walls,  and  they  could  speak  forth  the 
things  which  they  have  seen  and  heard,  what  glorious  tes- 
timony they  would  give.  They  would  tell  you  that  by  the 
space  of  a  whole  century,  alike  in  the  word  spoken  and  in 
the  ordinances  administered,  Christ  crucified  has  been  held 
up  before  sinners  as  the  onlj'-,  the  all-sufficient,  the  all-gra- 
gious  Saviour,  and  before  the  children  of  God  as  the  only 
Master,  Helper  and  Guide.  They  would  tell  you  that  the 
anxious  inquiry,  "  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved?"  has  often 
been  raised;  that  new  creatures  in  Christ  Jesus,  rejoicing  in 
the  ecstacies  of  the  first  love,  have  jubilantly  shouted, 
"  Thanks  be  unto  God  for  His  unspeakable  gift."  They 
would  tell  you  how  generations  of  weary  and  heavy-laden 
souls  here  found  rest  and  inspiration.  But  I  have  no  access 
to  God's  book,  and  these  walls  have  no  tongues,  hence  we 


38 


must  await  the  grand  apocalypse,  when  every  secret  thing 
shall  be  revealed. 

But  this  much  I  can  tell  you.  Although  the  material 
fabric  was  completed  and  dedicated  one  hundred  years  ago, 
the  spiritual  temple  is  still  in  course  of  construction,  and  in 
that  spiritual  house  you  and  I  can,  each  and  all,  find  a  place 
and  do  a  work.  No  stone,  though  it  be  never  so  deeply 
imbedded  in  the  quarry  of  sin,  though  it  be  never  so  un- 
shapely and  unwieldy,  but  that,  under  the  wonder-working 
power  of  the  great  Master  Builder,  the  spirit  of  the  Living 
God,  can  become  a  living  stone  in  the  living  temple. 

The  work  of  the  stone  church,  aided  by  the  Holy 
Ghost,  is  to  prepare  these  living  stones  for  the  spiritual 
temple,  and  much  as  we  may  revere  the  venerable  pile  on 
account  of  its  past  history,  tenderly  as  we  may  regard  it  by 
reason  of  the  many  hallowed  associations  which  cluster 
about  it,  yet  it  is  substantially  a  failure,  unless  in  the  years 
to  come,  even  as  in  the  years  past,  "  The  Lord  shall  count 
when  He  writeth  up  His  people  that  this  man,"  and  that 
man,  and  myriads  of  men,  were  there  born  again. 

While  we  here  offer  to  God  our  hearty  thanks  for  the 
past,  and  humbly  pray  Him  to  vouchsafe  to  this  Zion  peace 
and  prosperity  in  the  future,  let  us  remember  that  the  only 
normal  outcome  of  our  remembrance  of  the  former  days  is 
to  make  the  days  which  are  to  come  worthy  of  and  an  ad- 
vance upon  the  days  that  are  past,  and  that  the  only  pros- 
perity worthy  the  name  is  that  wh.ich  comes  from  the 
abiding  presence,  power  and  blessing  of  Him  who  has  said 
to  His  people,  "  Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway." 

Within  thy  walls.  O  sacred  shrine, 
Gift  of  the  Past  to  present  time. 
We  come,  with  reverential  tread, 
As  in  the  presence  of  the  dead, 
To  hear  that  sweet  and  tender  tone, 
Which,  bursting  now  from  every  stone, 


39 


Speaks  forth,  with  fresh  and  ardent  glow, 
Work  wrought — one  hundred  years  ago. 

O,  holy  house  ! — Time  honored  now — 
A  century  has  marked  thy  brow, 
Yet  classic  fane,  though  wondrous  fair. 
Cannot,  in  grace,  with  thee  compare. 
The  Fathers'  knell  was  long  since  rung, 
Their  solemn  dirge  was  long  since  sung  ; 
Yet,  while  they  sleep  beneath  the  sod. 
We  worship  where  they  built  for  God. 

To  Thee,  O  Lord,  we  joyful  raise 
Our  glad  centennial  song  of  praise, 
As  now,  within  this  holy  place. 
Thy  tenderness  and  love  we  trace. 
Help  us  to  guard,  with  sacred  care. 
The  Treasure  Thou  hast  given  us  here. 
Long  may  she  stand  to  speak  of  Thee 
Till  years  and  time  shall  cease  to  be. 

Amen. 


CENTENNIAL  ADDRESS 


BV  THK  rKESIDEXT  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES 


WALTER  S.  NICHOLS 


CENTENNIAL  TIMES  AND  MEN. 


The  charms  of  romance  cluster  around  the  memories  of 
bye-gone  days.  When  the  dreams  of  childhood  have  given 
place  to  the  stern  realities  of  riper  years,  and  the  vigor  of 
manhood  in  turn  has  yielded  to  the  hoary  head  of  age,  the 
scenes  of  early  years  come  back  to  us  clad  in  hues  of  fan- 
cy's colormg.  So  i.>  it  often  when  our  thoughts  revert  to  a 
historic  past,  and  we  seek  to  array  before  us  in  imagination 
the  generations  that  preceded  us,  and  the  scenes  in  which 
they  played  their  part  of  life's  great  drama.  Though  sep- 
arated by  only  a  single  century  from  the  men  v.'ho  reared 
these  walls,  no  cycle  in  Cathay  has  witnessed  such  stupen- 
dous changes.  What  was  then  the  dawn  of  a  new  era  in 
the  social,  industrial  and  scientific  life  of  man,  has  given 
place  to  the  splendor  of  a  midday  sun,  and  we  sometimes 
think  of  the  fathers  of  the  hamlet  in  the  eighteenth  century 
as  men  who  dwelt  and  labored  in  an  atmosphere  to  which 
we  are  strangers. 

It  is  easy  to  sketch  from  documentary  records  the 
political  life  of  an  age  or  people.  But  to  transport  our- 
selves in  thought  to  the  scenes  of  which  they  formed  a 
part,  and  penetrate  their  inner  daily  life,  is  no  easy  mat- 
ter. If  we  would  weigh  the  character,  and  judge  the  life  of 
a  bye-gone  generation,  we  must  study  them  in  the  light  of 
their  surroundings.  The  men  of  1791  were  the  men  of  the 
Revolution.  When  the  corner-stone  of  this  building  was 
laid,  only  six  years  had  passed  since  the  surrender  of  Corn- 
wallis  at  Yorktown.  The  workmen  who  manned  its 
trenches  when  the  foundations  were  dug,  hdd  been  trained 


44 


to  their  work  in  the  camp  of  Washington  beyond  the  Short 
Hills.  The  sacrifices  made  to  rear  their  temple,  great  as 
they  must  have  been,  were  small  compared  with  those  al- 
ready borne  while  their  town  lay  between  opposing  armies, 
and  their  families  and  homes  were  at  the  mercy  of  the  ma- 
rauder. Stout-hearted  women,  too,  stood  by  their  side  : 
wives  who  had  bid  their  husbands  God-speed  in  the  bitter 
fight  for  freedom;  mothers  who  had  roused  their  children 
at  midnight  to  drive  their  cattle  to  the  swamps,  when  the 
warning  cry,  "  The  Refugees  are  coming,"  broke  the  silence 
of  the  village  streets.  .  Though  more  than  a  hundred  years 
had  passed  since  the  first  settlers  landed,  the  work  of  sub- 
duing the  wildness  of  their  surroundings  had  made  but 
partial  progress.  There  were  young  men  in  the  group  that 
gathered  to  the  work  who  had  heard  as  boys  the  cry  of  the 
panther  in  the  wooded  outskirts  of  the  town  ;  and  there 
were  old  men  who  might  have  seen,  in  their  boyhood,  the 
red  deer  coursing  across  the  meadows  on  the  south. 

When  this  new  church  was  planned,  the  storm  clouds 
of  war  had  indeed  been  dissipated,  but  the  political  sky 
was  far  from  clear.  There  were  portents  of  a  danger 
which,  if  more  subtle  in  its  workings,  was  none  the  less  to 
be  dreaded  in  its  results.  To  resist  the  Parliamentary  op- 
pression of  the  mother  country,  and  tear  down  the  fabric 
of  her  colonial  governments,  had  been  largely  a  work  of 
brute  force  and  dogged  resistance.  But  the  problem  of  re- 
construction, which  now  confronted  the  independent  colo- 
nists, was  one  which  might  baffle  the  skill  of  the  best 
political  architect.  How  to  weld  those  colonies  into  one 
coherent  whole,  under  a  form  of  government  which  should 
preserve  their  autonomy  and  secure  their  precious  liberties, 
while  possessed  of  the  tenacity  to  resist  dissensions  at 
home  and  the  onslaughts  of  foreign  foes,  was  a  question 
which  in  no  age  or  country  had  yet  been  solved.  The 
American   statesman   of  1782   might  search   all  history  in 


45 


vain  for  a  precedent  for  his  guidance.  It  is  in  the  light  of 
facts  like  these  that  we  must  view  the  generation  to  which 
our  church  builders  belonged,  and  of  which  they  were  a 
representative  as  well  as  an  integral  portion.  They  pos- 
sessed a  liberal  share  of  that  enlightened  public  sentiment 
of  their  day  which  gave  birth  to  the  American  Constitu- 
tion. 

Governments  may  be  forcibly  established  by  revolu- 
tions, but  forms  of  government  that  are  lasting  must  grow 
out  of  the  exigencies  of  a  people.  The  fathers  had  been 
trained  for  self-government  by  the  teachings  of  their  Cal- 
vinistic  theology.  They  had  been  schooled  in  self-govern- 
ment by  their  conditions  and  necessities  as  English  colo- 
nists. The  constitution  of  their  mother  country  might  be 
their  model.  But  that  unwritten  compact  between  kings, 
nobles  and  people,  built  up  of  centuries  of  customs,  prece- 
dents and  common  law,  was  a  thing  which  no  man,  not 
reared  in  an  English  atmosphere,  could  clearly  compre- 
hend. Constitutions  are  not  exotics  that  will  flourish  in 
foreign  soils.  The  skill  with  which  its  skeleton  was  recast, 
and  its  substance  was  modified  and  condensed  into  a  writ- 
ten instrument,  has  been  the  admiration  of  the  world. 
France,  with  all  her  culture,  tried  to  follow  in  our  footsteps, 
and  brought  up  in  the  horrors  of  the  French  Revolution. 

We  may  praise  the  genius  of  Alexander  Hamilton,  and 
the  far-sighted  shrewdness  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  but  we 
must  remember  that  it  was  the  character  of  the  men  of 
1787,  whom  they  represented,  that  rendered  possible  the 
form  of  government  which  they  helped  to  inaugurate. 

That  compact  was  not  yet  formed  when  the  contribu- 
tors subscribed  to  the  building  of  this  church.  It  had 
barely  come  into  full  operation  when  this  building  was  dedi- 
cated.    Church  and  nation  were  coeval  in  their  building. 

Nor  was  it  alone  their  politicalfuture  that  was  clouded. 
The  financial  outlook  at  the  start  was  darker  still.       Free 


46 


capital  has  been  aptly  termed  the  sinews  of  war.  With 
equal  propriety  may  it  be  termed  the  sinews  of  peaceful  in- 
dustry. The  Revolution  had  been  fought  by  an  impover- 
ished people,  with  a  currency  exhausted  at  the  start.  It 
closed  with  bankrupt  treasuries,  ruined  credit,  and  millions 
of  virtually  repudiated  paper  obligations.  Not  a  mint  ex- 
isted in  all  the  broad  land,  not  an  institution  of  finance 
outside  of  three  seaport  towns.  The  banking  capital  of 
the  entire  country  was  less  than  that  of  our  single  city  to- 
day. To  add  to  the  distress,  the  few  industries  sustained 
by  the  war  had  been  crushed  out  by  foreign  imports  on  the 
return  of  peace,  and  to  crown  all,  the  machinery  of  the 
courts  had  been  put  in  motion  to  force  the  payment  of 
debts  suspended  during  hostilities. 

But  the  greatest  of  all  seeming  obstacles  at  the  start 
was  one  that  is  least  thought  of,  the  corrupting  influences 
of  the  war.  Newark  was  a  part  of  the  battle  ground,  and 
her  able-bodied  sons,  as  a  mass,  had  shared  in  the  strufrsle. 
At  this  late  day  it  is  hard  to  appreciate  the  concurrent  tes- 
timony of  contemporary  writers  ;  how  the  bars  were  let 
down,  and  the  moral  and  religious  tone  of  the  whole  people 
was  lowered,  when  that  large  citizen  soldiery  returned  to 
their  homes.  Newark  shared  with  the  rest  in  the  demoral- 
ization. However  we  may  admire  their  patriotism,  we 
must  admit  that  camp  life  is  not  a  natural  training  .-rchool 
for  church  erection,  and  we  may  well  marvel  at  the  power 
of  those  home  influences  which,  within  four  years  of  their 
return,  inspired  them  with  enthusiasm  for  the  work. 

When  we  consider  the  exhausted  condition  of  the 
country  at  the  close  of  hostilities,  and  then  turn  to  such  a 
structure  as  this,  we  instinctively  ask,  how  did  the  impov- 
erished people  dare  to  undertake  it.  Their  cloud  had  a  sil- 
ver lining.  For  four  years  they  had  waited,  while  a  work 
of  recuperation  was  going  on.  As  year  followed  year,  the 
life  blood  bounded  through  the  veins  of  the  young  States 


47 


with  increasing  vigor.  Their  infant  coniniercc  spread. 
Step  by  step  their  exports  overcame  the  balance  of  trade 
against  them,  and  when,  in  1786,  a  great  revival  had  swept 
through  their  community  and  prepared  the  way,  Newark 
and  her  sister  settlements  between  the  Raritan  and  the  Pas- 
saic were  among  the  chief  supporters  of  the  foreign  com- 
merce of  New  York.  They  were  on  the  great  highway  to 
the  South.  Soon  the  stage  coach  would  be  rumbling 
through  their  streets,  new  comers  were  flocking  in,  new  in- 
dustries were  starting  up,  and  Newark,  after  more  than  a 
century  of  quiet  life  as  a  hamlet,  was  beginning  that  trium- 
phant industrial  march  which  has  since  made  her  the  Bir- 
mingham of  America. 

We  talk  of  Newark  as  a  town.  If  we  would  under- 
stand its  early  character,  we  must  think  of  it  as  a  church. 
Treat  and  his  associates  never  left  their  Milford  and  Bran- 
ford  homes  to  found  a  mere  town.  They  came  to  plant 
this  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Newark  in  the  wilds  of 
New  Jersey,  and  when  they  had  planted  it  they  hedged  it 
round  with  restrictions  to  keep  out  unworthy  members. 
For  nearly  fifty  years  their  descendants  knew  no  town  apart 
from  their  ecclesiastical  organization. 

To  borrow  the  imagery  of  another,  the  ship  in  which 
they  started  anew  on  their  life's  voyage  was  from  stem  to 
stern  of  New  England  build,  with  timbers  hewn  from  her 
noble  hills,  seasoned  in  her  wholesome  discipline,  and 
bolted  through  and  through  with  her  Puritan  principles. 
The  story  of  Newark  was  the  story  of  old  Milford  repeat- 
ed. There,  too,  a  Christian  band  from  New  Haven  had 
gone  out  into  the  wilderness  to  plant  their  church,  and  it  is 
a  matter  of  historic  record  that  when  those  colonists  as- 
sembled to  frame  their  organic  law,  they  resolved  with  one 
accord  that  until  they  could  draft  their  code  they  would 
be  governed  by  the  laws  as  written  in  the  word  of  God. 

The  leaven  of  those  early  settlers  leavened  their  de- 


48 


scendants,  and  though  town  and  State  had  been  divorced 
for  half  a  century,  and  their  rigid  Puritanism  had  been 
supplanted  by  a  more  catholic  spirit,  the  influence  of  the 
original  founders  permeated  their  latest  successors. 

Six  original  townships  constituted  the  settled  portion 
of  East  Jersey  under  the  proprietary  government  of  Car- 
teret. (3thers  cpiickly  followed.  But  of  all  the  settle- 
ments, either  then  or  at  a  later  date,  Newark  was,  I  believe, 
the  only  one  that  was  undertaken  for  a  nobler  purpose 
than  the  worldly  gain  of  the  settlers.  It  was  the  only  col- 
ony in  East  Jersey  whose  origin  was  inspired  by  the  same 
motives  which  impelled  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  to  land  on 
Plymouth  Rock,  and  drove  Roger  Williams  to  seek  a  new 
home  on  the  shores  of  the  Narragansett.  For  years  it 
was  the  only  town  that  could  boast  a  settled  minister.  Its 
character  was  in  strong  contrast  with  many  portions  of  the 
State.  The  population  of  New  Jersey  was  far  from  homo- 
geneous. On  the  contrary,  its  heterogeneous  classes  and 
races  obstructed  both  social  and  business  intercourse.  But 
the  New  England  element  led  in  influence.  Newark  had 
been  the  centre  of  New  Englandism,  and  this  church  was 
the  heart  of  Newark.  The  great  body  of  the  people  either 
belonged  within  her  pale,  or  were  allied  to  her  by  ties  of 
ancestry.  As  a  class,  they  were  men  of  strong  and  inde- 
pendent character,  fitted  for  the  stormy  scenes  in  which 
they  lived  and  the  part  they  had  to  play. 

The  strength  of  a  nation  is  not  so  much  in  her  mate- 
rial resources,  nor  in  the  advanced  culture  of  her  nobles, 
but  in  the  character  and  condition  of  her  independent 
yeomanry.  The  proper  distribution  of  wealth  may  be  of 
more  consequence  than  its  mere  aggregation.  The  lusty 
manhood  of  that  intelligent  community  of  farmers  and 
mechanics  was  of  more  value  to  the  State  than  hoards  of 
gold  and  silver,  pampering  with  luxuries  the  few,  while  the 
masses  are  sunk  in  poverty  and  degradation.       Better  the 


49 


bald  hills  of  Scotland  and  the  rugged  crags  of  Switzerland, 
with  the  freemen  whom  they  nourished,  than  the  decaying 
empire  of  Philip  the  Second,  with  its  mines  of  Peruvian 
gold. 

Many  a  patriot  soul  throughout  the  land  is  watching 
now,  with  ill-concealed  alarm,  the  gigantic  concentration 
of  capital,  and  the  massing  of  industrial  enterprises  in  the 
hands  of  the  few,  and  is  asking  whether  the  threatened 
substitution  of  industrial  slavery  for  industrial  freedom, 
and  the  broadening  of  the  gulf  between  the  rich  and  the 
poor,  may  not  sap  the  strength  of  the  republic. 

The  Fathers  of  1791  were  of  the  intelligent  yeoman- 
ry of  whom  strong  nations  are  built.  I  know  not  better 
how  to  characterize  them.  They  were  a  race  of  farmers 
and  mechanics,  living  under  conditions  where  hard  manual 
labor  was  the  lot  of  nearly  all,  and  involved  no  social 
humiliation.  You  will  find  their  essential  characteristics 
reflected  in  many  a  quiet  village  community  today. 

If  a  time  shall  ever  come  when  the  citizens  of  their 
class  are  crushed  out  between  the  upper  and  nether  mill- 
stones of  great  wealth  and  dependent  poverty,  our  national 
fabric  will  fall  as  surely  as  did  the  temple  of  Gaza  when 
stripped  of  its  pillars. 

The  men  of  that  day  had  neither  the  schooling  of  our 
times,  nor  the  opportunity  to  acquire  it.  But  there  were 
scholars  among  them.  To  call  them  unlettered  would  be 
a  libel.  Their  schooling  was  like  that  of  many  a  plain 
country  district,  picked  up  in  the  few  hours  that  could  be 
spared  from  work,  and  embracing  the  fundamentals  most 
needed  for  their  daily  requirements.  Books  were  few. 
The  press  as  an  educator  had  scarcely  appeared.  Their 
church  was  their  great  schoolhouse,  and  its  ministers  were 
their  chief  instructors.  In  the  cardinal  doctrines  of  their 
faith  and  its  polemic  issues,  they  were  probably  better 
versed  than  their  descendants. 


50 


Their  old  men  in  their  youth  had  sat  under  the  teach- 
ing of  the  scholarly  Burr,  and  had  seen  the  inauguration 
in  their  midst  of  that  collegiate  enterprise  whose  outgrowth 
was  Nassau  Hall.  They  had  heard  the  burning  words  of 
Whitfield,  and  could  recall  the,  scene  in  their  younger  days 
when  the  windows  of  their  old  church  had  been  taken  out 
that  his  shafts,  delivered  from  its  pulpit,  might  penetrate 
the  throng  which  blocked  up  all  its  approaches. 

The  thunders  of  Jonathan  Edwards,  the  keenest  met- 
aphysician and  the  ablest  divine  whom  the  colonies  had 
produced,  had  echoed  through  all  the  Puritan  settlements. 
The  scene  at  Enfield  as  he  sketched  liis  fearful  picture  of 
"  Sinners  in  the  hands  of  an  angry  God,"  was  a  household 
tradition.  The  writings  of  their  eminent  theologians  were 
their  standard  literature. 

We  may  call  our  builders  narrow-minded,  and  talk  of 
their  blue  laws.  But  they  were  descended  from  men 
whom  the  profligate  house  of  Stuart  had  forced  into  exile. 
They  knew  how  the  foreign  flag  of  England  had  trailed, 
and  how  their  colonies  had  suffered,  under  the  reign  of 
the  gay  cavalier,  and  how  that  flag  had  gone  up  and  those 
colonies  had  prospered  when  the  cavaliers  went  down  be- 
fore the  mailed  hand  of  Oliver  Cromwell,  with  his  psalm- 
singing  Ironsides. 

The  atheistic  sneers  of  Voltaire  and  Paine,  and  the 
more  scholarly  assaults  upon  their  faith  of  Hume  and  Bo- 
lingbroke,  left  little  room  for  compromise  in  those  times  of 
relieious  contentions.  It  is  well  for  us,  their  descendants, 
that  it  was  so.  Their  laws,  which  public  opinion  has  been 
strong  enough  to  retain,  could  not  well  be  replaced  on  our 
statute  books.  But  it  would  not  be  just  to  paint  them  as 
if  they  were  all  made  up  of  a  moral  and  God-fearing  com- 
munity. Crime  and  irreligion  were  rampant  then  as  now. 
The  world  has  not  gone  backward  in  the  last  hundred 
years.     The  moral  tone  of  the  community  has  been  raised, 


51 


its  code  of  ethics  has  been  improved,  and  its  spirit  of  char- 
ity and  humanitarianisni  has  been  broadened  with  the 
growth  of  wealth  and  culture.  But  the  strong  religious 
convections  of  men  like  Witherspoon  and  Edwards  and 
Burr  are  no  longer  the  guiding  stars  of  the  masses. 

Such,  as  I  conceive  it,  was  the  framework  of  the  pic- 
ture, such  the  lights  and  shadows  in  which  our  quiet  town 
should  be  studied  as  it  lay  nestling  below  the  hills  along 
the  bank  of  the  Passaic  a  hundred  years  ago.  The  de- 
tails of  the  scene,  of  course,  I  cannot  sketch.  Two  hun- 
dred humble  dwellings,  with  their  attendant  shops  and 
barns,  distributed  along  its  four  principal  village  roads, 
formed  its  nucleus.  But  here  stood  their  new  church  on 
that  opening  day  of  1791,  looking  across  to  its  predeces- 
sor, with  its  ancient  burial  ground  behind.  Let  us  watch 
a  few  of  the  veterans  as  they  assemble.  On  yonder  cor- 
ner of  Broad  and  Market  streets,  sitting  in  his  home,  blind 
and  feeble  under  the  weight  of  more  than  ninety  years,  is 
their  senior  deacon  Ailing,  proud  of  his  commission  as  a 
magistrate  from  King  George,  thorough  patriot  as  he  was. 
From  his  mansion  facing  their  training  ground  comes  their 
leading  citizen.  Judge  Elisha  Boudinot,  worthy  represen- 
tative of  his  Huguenot  ancestry,  the  chief  legal  adviser  of 
town  and  church,  and  the  President  of  their  trustees  for 
more  than  thirty  years.  From  his  mansion  on  Market 
street,  to  the  east,  comes  Captain-Deacon  Wheeler,  the 
pastor's  right-hand  man,  among  the  first  to  strike  for  free- 
dom, and  first  of  the  people  to  strike  his  spade  into  the 
ground  when  the  church  foundations  were  dug.  From  his 
ancestral  home  to  the  south,  shaded  by  huge  button  ball 
trees,  comes  Captain-Elder  Nathaniel  Camp,  who  could 
boast  of  Washington  as  his  guest,  with  his  near  neighbor, 
Dr. -Elder  Burnet,  the  surgeon-general  of  the  army.  From 
his  new  house  on  the  back  road  comes  Benjamin  Coe  the 
second,  with  his  near  neighbor,  Captain  Nichols,  and  from 


52 


distant  Bloomfield,  Joseph  Davis  and  the  Fairands,  while 
the  venerable  form  of  the  army  chaplain,  Dr.  MacWhor- 
ter,  approaches  with  his  son,  the  lawyer  from  the  South. 
Thus  they  gathered. 

Pastor,  deacons,  elders,  trustees  and  laymen,  they 
were  all  a  fighting  as  well  as  praying  band.  How,  by  can- 
dle light,  they  must  have  rehearsed  at  times  the  stories  of 
their  trials.  How  they  must  have  recalled  the  desponden- 
cy when  Washington's  disheartened  troops  entered  their 
town  from  Acquackanock  and  pitched  their  tents,  and  the 
terror  when  Cornwallis  followed  and  took  possession. 
How  their  wives  and  children  must  have  rehearsed  the 
experiences  of  that  wintry  night  when  they  awoke  to  find 
British  bayonets  at  their  doors,  and  the  sky  lit  up  by  the 
flames  of  their  burning  academy,  answered  back  by  the 
glare  from  Elizabeth's  burning  church.  How  they  must 
have  fought  over  the  battle  of  Springfield,  and  recalled 
the  incidents  of  Knyphausen's  advance,  stained  as  it  was 
with  the  tragic  death  of  Hannah  Caldwell,  the  fair  daugh- 
ter of  their  Justice  Ogden. 

We  can  fancy  them,  too,  assembled  in  town  meeting, 
discussing  their  plans  for  the  future,  and  anticipating  the 
time  when  the  new  highway  to  the  metropolis  should  ease 
the  burden  of  a  two  days'  travel. 

The  scene  on  which  this  church  building  first  looked 
down  has  strangely  changed.  More  modern  appliances 
have  supplanted  the  well  sweeps,  the  tinder  boxes,  the  fire- 
places with  their  cranes  and  andirons,  the  foot-stoves  and 
the  fire-buckets.  Mills  and  factories  have  driven  out  the 
looms  and  clock  reels  and  spinning  wheels  with  which  the 
family  garments  were  made.  Modern  libraries  have  taken 
the  place  of  Bunyan  and  Edwards  and  Watts  and  the  old 
family  Bible,  and  too  often  the  dime  novel  the  place  of 
their  New  England  primers  and  Daboll's  arithmetics.  The 
gain  is  unquestioned,  but  we  must  discount  the  loss. 


53 


Just  ninety  years  ago,  Dr.  MacWhorter  stood  where 
I  now  stand,  and  preached  his  century  sermon.  His  lis- 
teners were  the  men  of  whom  I  speak.  The  following 
sentences  from  his  opening  remarks  seem  peculiarly  ap- 
propriate tonight : 

It  is  a  melancholy  thought,  yet  of  solemn  certainty,  that  none  of  us  now 
before  God  shall  ever  live  to  behold  such  another  day.  We  never  saw  such  a 
one  before,  and  nothing  is  more  sure  than  that  our  eyes  shall  never  behold 
another.  What  incalculable  numbers  of  men  are  swept  from  the  earth  in  the 
short  space  of  a  hundred  years.  And  not  only  shall  we  and  the  whole  world 
go  off  the  stage  in  this  century,  but  more  than  ten  times  the  number  of  all  who 
are  now  alive  on  the  earth.  Multitudes  will  come  into  existence  and  die  before 
the  commencement  of  such  another  era. 

We  must  soon  follow  our  fathers  into  the  eternal  world,  and  leave  our 
town  and  church  to  others. 

We  are  the  realization  of  the  old  preacher's  dream. 
Ours  is  the  generation  which,  ten  years  hence,  will  see  his 
century  completed.  Already  these  older  faces  on  the 
wall  are  unfamiliar,  and  the  petty  cares  and  trials  which 
vexed  them  have  been  forgotten.  Another  century  will 
soon  be  rolling  on.  As  I  now  talk  of  them,  some  future 
memorialist  may  speak  of  us.  The  lesson  is  obvious. 
Men  die,  but  influences  will  live.  Phidias  and  his  Atheni- 
an co-laborers  may  be  forgotten,  but  the  Parthenon,  with 
its  sculptured  frieze,  will  remain  for  all  time  a  divine  model 
of  classic  art. 

But  time  presses.  Let  us  ring  down  the  curtain,  and 
shift  the  scene.  Sixty  years  have  passed.  Our  builders 
are  gone.  A  few  gray-haired  patriarchs  are  all  that  are 
left  of  their  sons.  Their  church  is  remodeled.  Their 
town  of  twelv^e  hundred  inhabitants  has  become  a  busy 
city  of  30,000.  The  daily  stage  to  Philadelphia  no  longer 
rumbles  through  their  streets.  Sloops  and  periaugers  have 
ceased  to  be  their  vehicles  of  travel.  Machinery  is  re- 
placing their  simple  tools,  and  with  them  the  handicraft  of 
the  workmen. 


54 


Again  the  old  church  bell  is  ringing,  but  those  who 
respond  to  its  summons  are  the  intermediate  link  between 
the  builders'  generation  and  our  awn.  I  refer  to  the  early 
pastorate  of  Dr.  Stearns.  The  faces  will  come  back  to 
some  as  I  mention,  from  my  own  boyish  recollection,  the 
names  of  Tolles,  their  sexton,  Illsley,  their  chorister,  and 
Hornblower,  Tuttle,  Taylor,  Woodruff,  Colton,  Porter,  Ja- 
cobus and  Nichols  on  their  bench  of  elders.  Of  them, 
too,  nearly  all  are  gone.  Their  sole  representative  among 
the  officers  today  is  the  revered  senior  member  of  the 
Session. 

But  again  the  curtain  must  fall,  as  I  hasten  on  to  speak 
briefly  of  the  religious  guides  and  teachers  of  this  church. 
The  exalted  character  and  classic  scholarship  of  Jonathan 
F.  Stearns  are  fresh  in  your  own  recollection.  Of  Ansel 
D.  Eddy,  who  preceded  him,  there  are  doubtless  many 
here  who  can  give  a  better  portraiture  than  I.  But  it  is  of 
MacWhorter  and  Griffin  and  Richards  that  I  would  speak, 
the  men  whose  inspiration  moulded  the  lives  and  shaped 
the  thoughts  of  the  builders  and  their  sons.  They  were 
scholarly  as  well  as  godly  men.  It  is  fashionable  in  these 
times  of  material  progress  to  speak  slightingly  of  the 
learning  of  their  theologic  day.  But  it  was  the  practical 
wisdom  and  far-sighted  shrewdness  of  the  men  who  were 
educated  in  the  learning  of  MacWhorter  and  Griffin  and 
Richards  that  shaped  the  political  developments  of  our 
recent  civilization. 

We  cannot  measure  their  scholarship  by  their  mere 
knowledge  of  facts.  The  schoolboy  today  is  familiar  with 
facts  of  which  Newton  and  even  La  Place  never  dreamed. 
But  where  is  the  schoolboy  who  can  follow  the  demon- 
strations of  the  Principia  or  Mccaniqiic  Celeste  /  Behind 
all  material  science,  and  including  it  all,  lies  that  broad 
domain  of  philosoi^hic  truth  in  which  these  men  were  the 
peers  of  their  successors,  a  realm  which  Tyndal  sought  to 


55 


explore  and  laiuled  in  the  conclusions  of  the  old  Greek 
philosopher  two  thousand  years  before,  in  which  Huxley 
followed  out  his  mechanical  basis  of  life  to  its  logical  con- 
clusions and  brought  up  in  the  fore-ordination  of  Calvin. 

The  studies  of  those  religious  teachers  all  crystallized 
around  that  of  man  in  his  spiritual  origin  and  destiny. 
That  was  the  one  great  practical  question  with  which  they 
had  to  deal.  All  others  were  incidental.  New  light  has 
since  modified  their  conceptions  of  subsidiary  facts,  but 
the  great  underlying  doctrines,  proclaimed  from  this  plat- 
form by  MacWhorter  and  Griffin,  are  taught  by  the  finest 
scholars  in  Christendom  today. 

The  rock-ribbed  hills  around  them  were  scarred  with 
the  tracks  of  ancient  glaciers,  whose  boulders  were  scat- 
tered over  the  fields  of  Newark.  But  the  teachers  of  that 
generation  knew  nothing  of  the  story  told  by  those  stones. 
The  geologic  epochs  consumed  in  world-building  were  a 
matter  of  which  they  were  ignorant.  They  could  not  fill 
up  the  long  chronology  of  the  past.  But  they  knew  as 
much  of  its  beginning  and  its  later  developments  as  we. 
Before  their  minds  passed,  in  panoramic  review,  the  crea- 
tive fiat,  the  Spirit  brooding  on  the  waters,  the  birth  and 
apostasy  of  man,  the  rise  and  fall  of  empires.  They  con- 
trasted Babylon  in  her  pride,  with  the  desolation  brooding 
over  the  plains  of  Shinar;  the  mighty  monuments  of  the 
Pharaohs  and  the  mystic  learning  of  Egypt,  with  the 
squalor  that  reigned  in  the  valley  of  the  Nile  ;  the  pomp 
of  imperial  Rome,  with  the  ruined  palaces  of  the  Ceesars. 
These  were  the  class  of  material  facts  from  which  the  for- 
mer teachers  of  this  church  took  the  lessons  that  they  in- 
culcated. 

Nor  could  they  fill  up  the  horoscope  of  the  future. 
Correlation  of  forces,  conservation  of  energy,  elongation 
of  planetary  orbits,  precession  of  equinoxes,  those  natural 
laws  from  which  savants  now  predicate  the  world's  doom, 


56 


were  little  understood ;  but  of  the  final  outcome,  they 
knew  as  much  as  we.  As  they  thought  of  the  future, 
their  faith  was  undimmed  by  scientific  doubts.  As  the 
curtains  closed  around  their  life  on  earth,  Dies  Inv.  was  to 
them  an  impending  reality  ;  and  as  earth's  familiar  land- 
scape faded  from  their  sight,  their  thoughts  leaped  the 
chasm  of  scientific  epochs,  while  clear  and  strong  before 
their  unclouded  vision  rose  the  battlements  of  a  celestial 
world. 

In  those  early  days  the  life  of  pastor  and  people  alike 
was  given  to  sacrifice  and  toil,  but  the  rude  tombstones 
that  once  stood  in  yonder  burial  yard  bore  witness  to 
the  fact  that  it  closed  in  the  full  assurance  of  immortality. 
Their  teachings,  their  life,  their  faith,  their  hope,  are  all 
summed  up  in  those  words  of  great  Martin  Luther's  noble 
hymn  : 

"  Ein  feste  Berg  ist  unser  Gott." 


'•'  i-iMM'('i;    IMiff.'Tffv'G  GOc 


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